Chapter 751 - The End of the Era of Gods
“The Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword existed since the primordial times. It was produced from the foundation and core power of the Primal Chaos Realm, it was also the Primal Chaos Realm’s first sword. It is the ancestor of every single sword and even every single weapon in the world! Ranked first in the Seven Heavenly Profound Treasures, it contains heaven defying strength. The legends say that even a powerless man wielding it, will be able to easily cut through the blue firmament and destroy the heavens.
Jasmine duly described of this sword of legends… and even in the world she was born, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword was also a legendary existence.
“During the Era of Gods, no one had not heard of the name Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword. However, as the divine essence of its first owner, who was also its only owner in records—the head of the three Creation Gods “Mo E”, dissipated entirely and their lifespan ended, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword also disappeared without a trace. No one had ever seen traces of it ever again, until seven hundred thousand years later. In the center of the primal chaos, the silhouette of the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword appeared once again.”
Yun Che: “…”
Jasmine closed her eyes, as if immersing herself within distant memories, and continued narrating unhurriedly. “Because it existed in the middle of the Primal Chaos, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword was discovered by the god and devil races at the same time, and they inevitably wanted it for themselves. This was because by obtaining the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword, they would possess supreme power within the entire Primal Chaos. It was something that none of the gods could resist.”
“Thus, in order to obtain the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword, the southern region of the Primal Chaos world of the gods and the northern region of the Primal Chaos world of the devils waged a fierce war. At first, both sides were simply fighting in order to obtain the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword. As the war became fiercer, as increasing numbers of gods perished at the hands of the devils and increasing numbers of devils were buried by the gods, hatred started to breed, spread and intensify, causing the war between the gods and devils to become more bitter, causing even more gods and devils to perish, and causing the animosity to further deepen…
Yun Che was entranced, however, one sentence roared in his heart tens of times… What did this have to do with the matter of Fen Juechen!?
“The fierce battle between the two races lasted for thirty thousand years, with the devil race starting to collapse, even their northern area of the Primal Chaos was slowly being occupied by the gods. The remnants of the devil race were slowly forced to the corners of the Primal Chaos…”
“In despair, the devil race started a counterattack without a care for the consequences… They sacrificed the taboo device that even they were incomparably terrified of…”
“The Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations!”
Jasmine’s eyebrows trembled for a split second whilst mentioning the name, as if that memory was extremely terrifying… an existence which made even the True Gods tremble.
“Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations?” Yun Che was slightly shocked, then he remembered, “The second ranking of the Seven Great Heavenly Profound Treasures, the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations which is second only to the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword?”
“That’s right.” Jasmine closed her eyes once again, “Although its ranking within the Seven Heavenly Profound Treasures is second after the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword, the extent of its terror far exceeds the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword. Even just based on its slaughtering and destructive capabilities, it could probably even surpass the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword.”
“The Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword was birthed from the purest and most sacred force of the Primal Chaos, it is the strongest and most sacred sword. The Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations on the other hand is the most extreme opposite, it was born from the darkest and most evil forces of the Primal Chaos, containing the most extreme, the most terrifying negative energy. Once that energy is activated, even gods will not be able to control it, not to mention anyone else. Thus, even though the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations had always existed in the northern Primal Chaos, the devil race had always sealed and isolated it with their utmost might, not to mention using its strength, they did not even dare to go near it. Even when they had to continuously retreat during their war with the god race, they had never thought of using the strength of the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations.
“However, the god race utterly defeated the devil race and gradually occupied more and more of the northern Primal Chaos, with the intention of eradicating the devil race. In desperation and grief, the devil race utilized the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations in a frenzy.
Jasmine’s brows could not help but tighten, there was even a hint of pain in her voice, it seemed as if the memory was too horrifying, “When the power of the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations was activated, a wail as if from an infant, yet sinister and terrifying to the extreme spread to every corner of the Primal Chaos, an aura of death and a shadow enveloped every inch of space.
“If it were the god race of the golden age, perhaps they could have banded together to resist the power of the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations, however, although the god race was victorious, thirty thousand years of bitter war had made them pay an extremely disastrous price. The golden age of the gods had withered to a point which words could not describe, they simply did not have the power to resist the destructive strength of the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations. All the gods were either destroyed, severely injured, or were inflicted with evil energy, their divine essence quickly draining. They were better off dead.”
“It was not only the god race which experienced such a disaster, even the devil race who activated the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations had experienced it too. That miserable disaster exceeds your imagination by countless times… Those which were cut down like straws were not simply petty creatures, but True Gods, supreme existences which could easily rule the heavens. In order to survive, the remnant god and devil race could not help but to unite in order to resist the power of the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations, however, it was already too late, both races were forced to the verge of extinction… the power of the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations had also neared its end, just when both races thought they could see the light at the end of the tunnel, the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations released an extremely toxic poison across the skies, leading the god and devil races into an abyss of despair.”
“Poison?” Yun Che subconsciously whispered.
“That kind of poison was called ‘Myriad Tribulations’. Although you are well versed in the arts of poison, you could never have heard of this kind of poison.” Jasmine said apathetically, “It is even scarier than the ‘Heaven Wounding Thought Severing Poison’ that the Sky Poison Pearl can release! It is terrifying to the point that a True God can die by simply touching it!”
Yun Che’s heart trembled, then he suddenly felt puzzled… Heaven Wounding Thought Severing Poison? What was that? How do I not know about it? When he initially used the poisonous strength of the Sky Poison Pearl, although the poison which was released was indeed scary, it was not to a level beyond reason. After using all of the poisonous strength, it was only enough to poison thirty-three cities and seventy-six sects.
…Could it be that when I had obtained the Sky Poison Pearl, the poisonous strength had been depleted already?
Jasmine’s eyes swept across Yun Che and noted his reaction, but developed a different notion, she turned her head and said, “You do not need to feel shocked. Although the Sky Poison Pearl has the words ‘Sky Poison’ in its name, poisonous strength is not its main ability, its main ability is to purify and refine… in fact, it has the most powerful purifying and refining ability in the word!”
“However, even if it is the Sky Poison Pearl’s purifying abilities, whether it can purify the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations’ ‘Myriad Tribulations’ is unknown. The ‘Absolute God Slaying Poison’ that I was inflicted with and the devilish poison which Hong’er was inflicted with both originated from the evil essence of the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations when the ancient devil race used it. If it is able to produce a god slaying poison with simply its remnant aura, even True Gods would not be able to comprehend how terrifying ‘Myriad Tribulations’ is which was produced with the original power of the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations. At least to me, even the Sky Poison Pearl would not be able to purify ‘Myriad Tribulations’. If not, the the god race would not have been entirely wiped out.
“…What happened after that? Were the god and devil races both destroyed just like this?” Yun Che asked in detail.
“That’s right.” Jasmine nodded her head indifferently, “The destruction of the Era of Gods began with the first ranking Sky Profound Treasure, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword, and ended with the second ranking Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations.”
“Back then when I entrusted you with the Evil God’s Indestructible Blood, I had told you that the Evil God was the last god to perish during the Era of Gods. Then, the gods and devils perished, the Primal Chaos was a mess, countless stars and planets and living creatures perished, and the aura of the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations finally dispersed. Although the Evil God had not died, the ‘Terminator of Life’ in his body meant that he could not escape death. During the last moments of his life, he used his last bits of divine power to slow down the chaos within the Primal Chaos to his best ability, then, with his last bits of divine essence, he chose the lands he wanted to perish in… and finally died.”
“Regarding the part about the Evil God, I had obtained pieces of memories when I initially obtained the Evil God’s Indestructible Blood, the Evil God must have deliberately done that while leaving behind his legacy. However, within these memories are many blanks, obviously the Evil God must have deliberately hidden some things that he did not want later generations to know about. Even the lands where he chose to perish and what he did in the last moments of his life, have been meticulously erased.”
From the memories obtained from the Evil God’s Indestructible Blood… that would mean that under the heavens, whatever Jasmine had just said, she was the only one privy to such knowledge.
But! But! But! What did all of these have to do with the matter of Fen Juechen!!!
I only wanted to know what bizarre things had happened with Fen Juechen’s body, why did such ancient matters suddenly come up!!
Although it was rather… interesting to listen!!
Although that was the end of the Era of Gods and was a catastrophe which affected the entire Primal Chaos, it was too distant and vast for Yun Che. Moreover, it did not have anything to do with his present, past or future, he would only find it interesting, and maybe feel a little mind-blown… basically, there was no difference to hearing a made up myth.
On the contrary, he was much more interested in Fen Juechen’s secret!
Chapter 752 - Ancient Devil Art
“And then? Where did the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword and the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations go?” Yun Che asked.
Jasmine slowly shook her head. “Not a clue. The Evil God was the last of the fallen gods, so it’s likely that he knew the final location of the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword and the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations. Yet this was not mentioned in the fragments of the memories he left behind. Perhaps he hid them in the final moments of his life… in order to prevent these items, the sources of the annihilation of the gods, from throwing the world into chaos and disaster once more. He may have hid them in a place where future generations would never be able to find them.”
“But the Primordial Azure Dragon said that his daughter was sealed within the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword, so what’s going on? He wanted me to find the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword by any means.” Yun Che frowned as he thought back to the words the Dragon God said to him at the Wasteland of Death… it could have even been considered a request.
“As if I would know.” Jasmine pursed her lips slightly. “Whether it’s the memories I inherited or records of the Primordial God clan, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword has hardly ever been mentioned. As for your search for it… Hmph, from what I see, it’s completely ridiculous.”
“It hasn’t been that long since the annihilation of the gods, probably only about a million years. During these million years, countless creatures and races have persistently searched for the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword. Even if the gods have been annihilated, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword cannot disappear… Nothing in this world is capable of destroying it. Yet in these million years, no one has ever seen its shadow, much less any trace of it.”
“To this day, there are still numerous people searching for the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword. Not a single person who knows of the name ‘Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword’ doesn’t want to possess it. As for the matter regarding the sealed Dragon God’s daughter, I haven’t heard of such news before. Who knows, we could be the only two in the world to know of this… even though it’s useless information.”
“Then… how about the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations?” Yun Che asked.
“While that evil, demonic weapon also cannot be destroyed by anything in this world, no one will attempt to search for it. Hmph… putting aside the potential waste of effort searching for it, even if it were to appear right in front of someone, it would be avoided out of fear. To possess and use it, one would first have to be eternally damned to hell!”
Jasmine’s voice was frosty, as if she had been influenced by the remnants of a memory, causing her to strongly reject and fear the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations, “After the annihilation of the gods, the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations was also thoroughly hidden and has not appeared for a million years. It was definitely hidden somewhere during the chaos. With a million years of time… the energy used to annihilate gods that went dormant must have awakened once again.”
“Then how about the Primordial Seal of Life and Death that was ranked third? Was it also lost for a million years?” Yun Che asked impatiently. The Primordial Seal of Life and Death… it was the only hope he knew of that could save the Little Demon Empress.
“Of course!” Jasmine replied without hesitation, “Based on the scattered records of the Primordial Seal of Life and Death, it originally belonged to one of the three Creation Gods, a female god named Li Suo. She carried the Primordial Seal of Life and Death with her, and was thus granted immortality barring any accidents. She would not have died or grown old, but in the terrible battle between gods and devils, she perished after being surrounded by a number of devils. The Primordial Seal of Life and Death fell into the hands of the devil race. In the end, since the devil race wielded the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations, the god race never managed to seize back the Primordial Seal of Life and Death.”
“Therefore, the Primordial Seal of Life and Death was lost in the chaos following the eradication of the devil race. In these million years, the number of people who dream of possessing the Primordial Seal of Life and Death are certainly no less than those who desire the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword. The Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword can grant the user an unparalleled strength, but the Primordial Seal of Life and Death can grant immortality as long as the holder isn’t killed.”
“If a person were to possess both…” Jasmine narrowed her eyes. “…they would truly be the master of immortality and chaos.”
“Yet, as I’ve said, it’s possible that the Primordial Seal of Life and Death has already been found. After all, one only needs to carry it on their body to activate its power of immortality. Hiding it out of sight would be simple, and the person who possesses it would do everything in his power to ensure that no one else knows of its existence… not even his own relatives.”
Yun Che pondered for some time before exhaling sharply, almost grinded his teeth, and asked, “All these things that you’ve told me… how exactly are they related to Fen Juechen!?”
“Of course they’re related!” Jasmine threw him a glance, her expression becoming somber. “The profound art he uses is the ‘Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night,’ which is obviously… one of the primordial devil race’s devil arts!”
“Primordial… devil race?” Yun Che’s heart lurched. “Hasn’t the primordial devil race already gone extinct?”
“That’s the reason why I was shocked when Fen Juechen released his power source in response to your provocation.” Jasmine said, frowning.
Yun Che frowned and tentatively asked, “Could it be that… he obtained an inheritance from the primordial devil race? If the gods were able to leave their souls and their blood behind as a legacy, then shouldn’t devils be able to do the same as existences on the same level as gods?”
“No!” Jasmine shook her head. “Although devils and gods have the same divine level of strength, their souls and sources of power are different. In fact, they are diametrically opposed! Before the gods disappeared into extinction, they were furious that they would simply disappear. So they merged their power and souls together to form a spirit. This spirit guarded the last of their blood and will, bestowing their blood and power to others as a means for their existence to endure the Primal Chaos Realm. The spirit and the divine blood left behind are extraordinarily powerful, to the extent that they cannot be naturally eliminated. They have an affinity with this world, and therefore receive the world’s protection.”
“Yet devils are completely different! Devils possess a type of power contrary to the unsullied power of the world. Most devils fear the light. Even if devils left spirits or demonic blood behind, the power of the world would reject it and it would quickly dissipate. It probably wouldn’t last a couple thousand of years, let alone a million. When the Era of Gods ended, most of the legacies that the gods left behind were found, birthing a new ‘Realm of the Gods.’ As for the legacies of the devils, they indeed appeared after the extinction of gods and devils, but each legacy lasted less than ten generations before the power of the world purified it. In a mere thirty thousand years, the legacies of the devils disappeared and were never seen again in the following million years.”
Yun Che, “…”
“And now, after vanishing for a million years, the power of the primordial devil race, which even the Realm of the Gods has almost forgotten, has appeared in such a lowly human. It’s extremely strange.” Jasmine’s frown deepened. Her understanding of gods, devils, the ancient races, and their powers far surpassed Yun Che’s. The shock that Fen Juechen’s dark profound energy caused in Jasmine was something that Yun Che could not understand.
“Since the primordial devil race’s strength vanished such a long time ago, why were you able to recognize it?” Yun Che asked thoughtfully.
Jasmine replied with a straight face, “When I inherited this power, I also inherited fragments of the primordial spirit’s memory. These memories coincidentally recall dark profound energy—or rather, it should be called a dark devil art—that Fen Juechen possesses, which allowed me to recognize it. This type of devil art is called ‘Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night’ and belonged to a high level devil clan which was called the ‘Eternal Night Devil Clan’ in the ancient Era of Gods. To use such a devil art, one must have the corresponding devil blood or devil spirit… similar to your ‘World Ode of the Phoenix’, where you require Phoenix blood to activate certain abilities.”
“This means that Fen Juechen, who has the ‘Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night,’ also inherited the ‘Eternal Night Devil Clan’s devil blood or devil spirit!”
“Devil blood or devil spirit that hasn’t dissipated in a million years!”
“This…” Yun Che felt stranger as the conversation went on, even thinking that this just was not something he could comprehend at his level. Fen Juechen’s earth shattering change in just a few years surely had an unusual reason… but it was certainly unexpected for it to be so extraordinary.
He could feel a headache coming on just listening to Jasmine’s description.
Yun Che considered Jasmine’s reaction and spoke while thinking, “You managed to read Fen Juechen’s memories, so you should know how he got his power, right?”
“I do already know and it’s more interesting than any other method I can think of.” Jasmine’s face grew cold. “His devil art and power comes from… his father.”
“His father?” Yun Che stared at her with wide eyes and said with a face full of disbelief, “That can’t be! I killed his father, Fen Duanhun, with my own two hands. He can’t be still alive. Even if he were, Fen Duanhun’s profound strength is only at the Sky Profound Realm. No matter how…”
“I didn’t say his ‘father’ was Fen Duanhun!” Jasmine’s expression appeared thoughtful.
“…” Yun Che’s expression instantly became strange as he said in a lowly, “Then, Fen Juechen is not Fen Duanhun’s son? Fen Duanhun was cuckolded?”
“Fen Duanhun is indeed Fen Juechen’s biological father, but Fen Juechen has another father… who is also his biological father.”
Yun Che: “~！@#￥%……*” (dumbfounded face)
“Two men… can also… have children?” Yun Che’s voice shook as he audibly gulped.
Chapter 753 - Forbidden Reincarnation Technique
“…” Jasmine used a hard glare reserved for idiots to stare down at Yun Che, “Of course not! It’s just… Fen Juechen is the same as you, a person with two lifetimes!”
“Wh… at!?” Yun Che’s heart jumped.
“But there’s a difference.” Jasmine quickly added, “You had two lives, in the Profound Sky Continent and the Azure Cloud Continent…” Jasmine paused slightly, before she corrected herself, “No, it should be three lives, because you triggered the Mirror of Samsara’s reincarnation powers, and twice, at that. While the Mirror of Samsara’s reincarnation power is in effect it will simultaneously alter… you could say it alters cause and effect. Yet this ability that goes against the gods doesn’t disrupt the laws of cause and effect. In addition, the Mirror of Samsara has many formidable aspects, which is something that even the heavens cannot interfere with.”
“As for Fen Juechen… I had my suspicions when I was sensing his strength and soul at the beginning. But it was just a feeling and I dismissed it soon after. I thought his devil art was derived from his adverse emotions affecting his strength, giving rise to an ordinary devil profound strength. When I read his memories just now, I realized that that flash of speculation I had was the truth… there is the effect of a type of forbidden reincarnation technique on him!”
“Forbidden reincarnation technique? What is that?” Yun Che asked curiously. It was his first time hearing those four words.
“Since it is a forbidden art, it cannot be tolerated by this world, and is fated to be condemned… it even messes with reincarnation.” Jasmine laughed coldly. Within that sound there was a flash of pity towards Fen Juechen, “But the forbidden reincarnation technique on Fen Juechen’s body is of a higher level than what I’m familiar with. Although it has been a thousand years, the spirit is still at least seventy percent whole. This must be because it is the forbidden arts of the ancient devil clan… or more accurately, of the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night!”
Yun Che felt increasingly dazed as Jasmine went on… if he were told directly that Fen Juechen inherited the legacy of a certain primordial devil, it might have been easier for him to process.
“Although it is about seventy percent intact, it is still an incomplete soul. This causes Fen Juechen to have a temperament different from others. He will be more eccentric, sensitive, prone to extremes and will easily lose his temper and self-control.” At Yun Che’s perplexed expression, Jasmine raised an eyebrow. She knew that her explanation was on a level far above what Yun Che was capable of understanding. She had to put it in simpler terms, “Forget it, I’ll just tell you straight up. Fen Juechen’s previous name was Ye Huang. His father in his former life was called Ye Mufeng and his mother was Ye Jianxi!”
“Ye Huang… Ye? Doesn’t this surname solely belong to the Sun Moon Divine Hall? Could it be…”
“No!” Jasmine interrupted Yun Che and stated mildly, “This is currently so, but a thousand years ago, there was another power surnamed Ye… that clan was essentially different from the Sun Moon Divine Hall!”
“Wait!” Yun Che was struck by a sudden thought. Somewhere in the depths of his soul, there was a sense of familiarity towards the names ‘Ye MuFeng’ and ‘Ye Jianxi’. He quickly calmed his heart and followed the pulsing within his soul. He searched through the ancestral memories within the legacy of the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul…
Not a moment later, his understanding of the two names ‘Ye Mufeng’ and ‘Ye Jianxi’ became crystal clear in his mind, and he whispered in surprise, “Eternal Night… Royal Family!?”
Other than the Four Great Sacred Grounds, the most detailed and extensive records for the Eternal Night Royal Family that was decimated a thousand years ago would belong to the Frozen Cloud Asgard. Within the ancestral memories of the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul, the last Eternal Night King of the Eternal Night Royal Family was called Ye Mufeng!
And the last Eternal Night Queen… the benefactor of Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Mu Bingyun, was called Ye Jianxi!
“That’s right!” Jasmine spoke in a low murmur, “Ye Mufeng was the last king of the Eternal Night Family whom the Four Great Sacred Grounds jointly annihilated. Ye Jianxi was then the Eternal Night Queen. Ye Huang was their only son, who was also the Eternal Night Royal Family’s last prince… and the 《Eternal Night Illusory God Record》, which is the core profound art of the Eternal Night Royal Family, actually is the primordial Eternal Night Devil Clan’s 《Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night》! Even the name Eternal Night Royal Family was derived from the Eternal Night Devil Clan!”
“There… was… such a thing?” Yun Che’s mind was now a blank sea. If it wasn’t for Jasmine personally explaining it, even if he retained the knowledge from two lives, he would have never linked Fen Juechen, who was clearly the son of Burning Heaven Clan’s leader with the Eternal Night Royal Family decimated a thousand years ago. What’s more, he would never have expected that a mere twenty year old person would actually be an Eternal Night Prince from a thousand years ago!
“Then what exactly is the forbidden reincarnation technique? Could it be that Fen Juechen’s soul is Ye Huang’s from a thousand years ago? If you knew all these through reading Fen Juechen’s mind, does it mean he has regained his memories from his previous life? What’s the deal with the Eternal Night Royal Family’s profound art?” Yun Che’s head was bursting with countless questions, and each obscure question was like a great mystery of the world, something he could not think through and understand.
Jasmine didn’t answer any of his questions upfront, but went on by herself, “A thousand years ago, the Eternal Night Royal Family was jointly annihilated by the Four Great Sacred Grounds. The Eternal Night Prince, Ye Huang, was brutally killed. To save her son, the Eternal Night Queen, Ye Jianxi disobeyed the ancestors’ strict orders and employed the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night’s forbidden technique. She forcefully confined Ye Huang’s vanishing soul and blood essence, and used twenty percent of Ye Mufeng’s soul as a sacrifice to activate the forbidden reincarnation technique that violated the laws of heaven. Doing so, Ye Huang’s soul and blood essence would never dissipate, and under special circumstances could reincarnate in another person’s body.
“It was evident that the Eternal Night king and queen already foresaw the Eternal Night Royal Family, and used such a method to preserve their bloodline… otherwise they would never go against their ancestors’ orders to use a forbidden technique condemned by the heavens.”
Yun Che: “…”
Jasmine knew that the different dimensions of souls was something the current Yun Che would never truly grasp. She said bluntly, “Simply put, Ye Huang died a thousand years ago, both his body and soul. With the help of twenty percent of Ye Mufeng’s soul, Ye Jianxi activated the devil clan’s forbidden technique and used his soul to forcefully revive Ye Huang’s soul. She then initiated the forbidden reincarnation technique, preventing Ye Huang’s revived soul and blood essence from dissipating within a short period of time. If it comes across an infant who died within six hours of birth, Ye Huang’s soul and bloodline could be preserved and reincarnated into that body.”
“That means, the real Fen Juechen died shortly after he was born. The current Fen Juechen who is Fen Duanhun’s third son, has a mixed bloodline from the Burning Heaven Clan and the Eternal Night Royal Family, but he has Ye Huang’s soul, which was wandering around for a thousand years?” Yun Che stated dazedly.
What the hell, this is even more complicated than me reincarnating twice!
In this universe, there really is every kind of monster and demon!
“That’s right. But the soul isn’t just solely Ye Huang’s soul, but a fusion of Ye Huang and Ye Mufeng, with the former as the main. Under the protection of the forbidden reincarnation technique, only thirty percent of the soul has dissipated within a thousand years of wandering.” Jasmine explained.
Although the process and forbidden technique were things that Yun Che knew nothing of and could not comprehend, he did at least understand the result. He muttered to himself, then slowly said, “Then, Fen Juechen’s sudden change is because after he was reincarnated into this body, the bloodline and soul which had been dormant for twenty years were awakened?”
“The bloodline has always existed in him, so you can’t say it has been awakened. Even if it’s the Eternal Night Devil Clan’s forbidden reincarnation technique, the bloodline in the body used for reincarnation will not be able to sustain its previous strength. As for the soul, based on Ye Huang’s incomplete soul, I recall it would take thirty years to awaken if there are no other factors in play. But something happened. With half-lidded eyes, Jasmine continued, “Four years ago, once you left after you annihilated the Burning Heaven Clan, Fen Yijue used his last breath to entrust a pitch-black key to Fen Juechen whom you spared.”
“A pitch-black key? What’s that?” Yun Che asked doubtfully.
“When Fen Yijue handed over the key to Fen Juechen, he said that this was a forbidden item passed down by their ancestors. In it lies a terrifying forbidden secret, and was only to be used when the Burning Heaven Clan faced impending annihilation. But it seems like even he did not know what the secret was. Fen Juechen acted according to the inscriptions carved by profound energy on the key, and travelled to Black Fiend Nation’s land of enormity, where no sun nor moon has shone over in ten thousand years. He used that key and opened… a Soul Sealing Coffin sealed a thousand year old soul!”
“In that Soul Sealing Coffin, what was sealed was… Ye Mufeng’s remaining soul!”
“Huh?” Yun Che was once again stunned… this bullshit! The biggest and most incredulous joke he had heard in his life couldn’t even compare to this!
Yun Che’s memories reverted to the first day he had officially joined the Frozen Cloud Asgard as a disciple. While reminiscing, he said slowly, “At that time, Grand Mistress Feng Qianhui, spoke to me about the Eternal Night Royal Family from a thousand years ago, and briefly mentioned the Eternal Night King’s final state. She said that the Eternal Night King’s wife and son met a tragic death, and his entire clan was annihilated. Through extreme hatred and sorrow. he was suddenly devilized. He became the first person in the whole of the Profound Sky to have been truly devilized. After his transformation, the Eternal Night King abnormally grew stronger, but he still could not defend against the Four Great Sacred Grounds’ alliance, and was eventually killed by them. Although his body was destroyed, his soul lingered for a long time… as if his devilized profound energy caused his soul to undergo a fundamental change.”
“And so, the Four Great Sacred Grounds could only seal the Eternal Night King’s soul in a Soul Sealing Coffin… Feng Qianhui also said, the Eternal Night King’s soul should have dissipated over a thousand years of time.”
“What Fen Juechen found was that Soul Sealing Coffin!?”
(For those who can’t remember, please refer to chapter 381)
If it wasn’t for the Soul Sealing Coffin, the Eternal Night King, Ye Mufeng’s soul would definitely have dissipated. The irony here is that the Soul Sealing Coffin sealed Ye Mufeng’s soul, but at the same time, it also protected it! What’s even more ironic is that the Soul Sealing Coffin was hidden in Profound Sky Continent’s Black Fiend Nation, where the densest yin energy is present. The aura there not only prolonged the dissipation of Ye Mufeng’s soul, but it also helped to stave off the dissipation to a certain degree. With all this, it allowed Ye Mufeng’s soul to retain about forty percent of his soul while lasting over a thousand years.”
“…” Yun Che frowned, pondering.
Fen Juechen borrowed a body and reincarnated into the Burning Heaven Clan… The key to the Soul Sealing Coffin happened to be with the Burning Heaven Clan instead of any of the Four Great Sacred Grounds… even if these were coincidences, wouldn’t they have been too serendipitous?
The Soul Sealing Coffin sealed but at the same time also ‘protected’… the land with the densest yin energy within the country with the densest yin energy… preventing the Eternal Night King’s devil soul, which should have dissipated over a thousand years from doing so…
Finally, it was Fen Juechen who held the key and opened the Soul Sealing Coffin…
All these coincidences coalesced and seemed more like a well-devised plan instead!
But annihilating the Burning Heaven Clan was done by my own hand, and me heeding Little Aunt’s request to spare Fen Juechen led to Fen Juechen obtaining the key to the Soul Sealing Coffin… then this shouldn’t have been a well-devised plan.
Could it be that coincidences to such a degree actually exist in the world…
Or could it be that the heavens pitied the Eternal Night Royal Family’s tragic fate?
While he was mumbling, another thought struck him, and he frowned, “The Eternal Night Illusory God Record is the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night, but it should be an extinct primordial devil art… if so, that means that a thousand years ago, Eternal Night King Ye Mufeng’s devilization was not the devilization everyone knew of, but…”
“That’s right!” Jasmine nodded and spoke affirmatively, “What he released from his body was the bound devil blood that had been always in him!”
Yun Che: “…”
Once the seal on the devil bloodline was unshackled, Ye Mufeng’s innate profound strength and the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night’s power proliferated, surpassing any one of the leaders of the Sacred Grounds. However, releasing the devil blood should be something only the royal bloodline of the Eternal Night Royal Family can do, or else the Eternal Night Royal Family would never have been annihilated so easily. Also, judging the condition of Ye Mufeng’s soul, once the seal on the devil blood is unshackled, it will cause a permanent drastic change in one’s temperament and will. Also, there is no way to reseal the devil blood… but these are just my conjectures. The portion of memories on this part is sadly lacking.”
Fen Juechen’s soul fused with Ye Mufeng’s, and naturally, their memories were also fused. Thus, when Jasmine attempted to read Fen Juechen’s memories, she read both Fen Juechen’s and Ye Mufeng’s memories at the same time. But because Ye Mufeng’s soul was slowly dissipating over a thousand years, his remaining memories were also scattered and incomplete.
Author’s Note: Isn’t Fen Juechen’s matter a bit complicated? In fact, young group of translators, the time to put you guys to the test has come, hahahahahahahaha…
alyschu: ‘ 3’…
Chapter 754 - The Strange Heavenly Sin Divine Sword
“…The surrounding towns of the core lands of the Eternal Night Royal Family were suddenly enveloped in a black fog overnight. Everyone within the towns, whether they were almighty profound practitioners or powerless women or children, were violently killed… Soon enough, all blame landed on the Eternal Night Royal Family because when the Eternal Night Royal Family’s core profound art, the Eternal Night Illusory God Record, was invoked, a black fog would envelope the user’s body. The bodies of those who died under the Eternal Night Illusory God Record were blackened and enveloped in a black fog that persisted for more than a few days.
“…After that, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region was the first to question them. They named the Eternal Night Royal Family as a sinful, devil clan; massacring innocents in order to enhance their devilish strength. In the name of protecting the Profound Sky Continent and to get rid of evils, they then joined forces with the other three Sacred Grounds to annihilate the Eternal Night Royal Family…”
This was what Feng Qianhui had told him regarding the Eternal Night Royal Family back then, that Mighty Heavenly Sword Region had implicated the Eternal Night Royal Family.
The name “Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night” could be altered, but the attribute of “darkness” could never be changed, thus the profound aura of the Eternal Night Royal Family would always be black…
Using underhanded means, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region framed the Eternal Night Royal Family as an “evil devil clan.”
However, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region would never have dreamed that the Eternal Night Royal Family, who bore the devil’s soul and blood, and cultivated the “Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night” could indeed be labelled as a devil clan!
In fact, they were a primordial devil clan!
“Jasmine, you mentioned that the reason why Fen Juechen’s power had increased explosively was because he had merged with a devil soul. Could that devil soul be the remnant soul of Ye Mufeng, who was sealed in the Soul Sealing Coffin?” Regarding the issue which Jasmine had yet to bring up, Yun Che had gradually formed an outline of the situation in his heart.
“Back then, after the Soul Sealing Coffin had been opened by Fen Juechen, Ye Mufeng’s remnant soul had wanted to seize Fen Juechen’s body, because at that point in time Fen Juechen’s body carried an extremely dense resentment. It could be said that his negative feelings were at its peak; it was simply a body bestowed by the heavens. However, Fen Juechen’s willpower was too strong. He was countered when attempting to devour Fen Juechen’s soul. At the same time, he discovered that Fen Juechen was actually Ye Huang who had reincarnated and thus gave up struggling. This allowed Fen Juechen to counter-devour his soul and also using his remaining willpower and all his might, he transferred the origin power which was sealed within the remnant soul into Fen Juechen’s body, allowing him to slowly absorb and assimilate it.
“Is this type of absorption a property exclusively belonging to the Eternal Night Devil Clan or the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night?” Yun Che asked right after. This was because Jasmine had clearly said that the direct transference of Profound Strength and legacies were extremely difficult tasks.
With Fen Juechen’s assimilation of devil origin, it became a direct transfer or inheritance of profound energy. In just a short few years, he leapt from the Spirit Profound Realm to the Sovereign Profound Realm. It was a mythical jump of five profound realms!
“Of course not! If that were so, then the devil race would not have been crushed by the god race during the Primordial Era. This was possible and realized because the forbidden reincarnation technique created an exceptional and strange coincidence.” Jasmine said blandly. She was initially shocked and could not comprehend Fen Juechen’s ability to directly absorb the concealed devil origin in his body, but she was now speaking in a calm and deadpan manner; an attestation that the truth of the matter did not deviate too far from her scope of knowledge.
“Coincidence?”
“As I’ve said, a thousand years ago, in order to secure Ye Huang’s soul, the Eternal Night Royal Family activated the forbidden reincarnation technique where Ye Mufeng separated a fifth of his soul and fused it into Ye Huang’s soul. Fen Juechen’s soul is in essence Ye Huang and Ye Mufeng’s souls melded, with Ye Huang as the dominant party. Although this vestige of Ye Mufeng’s soul and the soul in the coffin he integrated originate from the same person, there is an inherently distinct difference. The latter is a subsequently devoured soul similar to prey, but the former is his original soul!”
“Since these two parts of essentially different souls trace back to Ye Mufeng, they were able to assimilate with Ye Mufeng’s devil origin perfectly, and allow Fen Juechen’s soul to co-exist with Ye Mufeng’s devil origin to a certain degree of harmony. In addition, the devil origin is completely malleable, allowing Fen Juechen to directly absorb the power melded within the devil origin and utilize it as his own power.
“It’s just that this kind of harmony covers only a small portion after all. So even though Fen Juechen is able to directly absorb the devil origin, the speed of absorption will be sluggish. It’s been several years but he has only managed to absorb less than half, and during the process of absorption… the pain will be unfathomable, especially in the initial stages. Due to the existence of some incompatibility, while he bears this power, his body and soul will endure a pain similar to constant ripping and shredding… that kind of pain is something that no normal person can bear.”
“…” Yun Che remained silent. This should be the aforementioned “hell” by Fen Juechen.
“At the same time, the external energy that cannot fully meld will also reduce his lifespan. If he ceases the absorption and maintains this current state, he can live for another three years at most. If he persists in absorbing devil origin, his remaining lifespan will shorten further.” Jasmine sneered, “Hmph, how could the transfer and inheritance of power be that simple! If it were anyone else faced with such a price, even if it was for the sake of a power ten times stronger, they would still absolutely refuse. Only Fen Juechen, with such a dark life history, would choose this hopeless road.
“Which is why, even though both of you experienced two lives, you were blessed by the Mirror of Samsara, enjoying impossibly good luck that could incur the wrath of heaven! But Fen Juechen… he could even be named as the most pitiful existence in the whole Profound Sky Continent. Bearing a shattered life, a shattered soul, saddled with the grievances of two clans over two eras, and enduring a living hell of pain with every breath.
“He paid such a price in exchange for power, yet he was thwarted by you, and shown mercy by you… Hmph, the consequent unjustness, humiliation and resentment would be ingrained in him more deeply than you can imagine.”
“The thought of casually killing him did cross my mind, but because he was pitiful to such an extent, I thought to spare his life. He won’t have much time left anyway, and with me around, he won’t be able to kill you.” Jasmine’s tone shifted slightly, and continued, seemingly more meaningfully, “Even without me, he still won’t be able to kill you. Let him keep his wretched life to kill whoever else he wants to. After all, you are one of the last few amongst those he wants dead, contrary to expectations.”
“The others he wants dead… could they be from the Four Great Sacred Grounds?” Yun Che asked.
“Of course! Ultimately it was the Four Great Sacred Grounds who annihilated the innocent Eternal Night Royal Family, and were the perpetrators of his tragedy. His sole motive for staying alive till today is revenge!”
With the word “revenge,” Yun Che couldn’t help but recall his last seven years in the Azure Cloud Continent…
The sole motive for staying alive till today was revenge… weren’t these the words ringing in his soul almost every day, every night, inundating his every breath and moment…?
Perhaps, in this world, the person who could truly understand the present Fen Juechen’s completely twisted belief… would be Yun Che.
But the difference was, during that time, other than revenge, he had Ling’er…
Just that…
“When revenge eclipses all else and becomes your sole belief, any other advice, any other impediments will become virtually useless. However, with the little remaining life that he has, no matter how fast his speed of growth, he could never reach a level where he poses a threat to the Sacred Grounds, much less take any revenge…” Yun Che paused, as if suddenly recalling something. He frowned deeply and said, “A thousand years ago, Ye Mufeng’s strength alone was not enough to overpower any of the Sacred Grounds’ masters, but after he released his devil blood, all four Sacred Grounds’ masters had to join hands to defeat him. Fen Juechen is a direct descendant of the royal bloodline, so is it possible…”
“Of course it’s possible!” Jasmine replied assertively, “Although thirty percent of the inherited blood was lost due to the forbidden reincarnation technique, there’s still about seventy percent that was retained. Also, Fen Juechen already knows the method to release the confined devil blood inside him.”
“And that is… the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword!”
“…It’s no wonder why he is participating in the Devil Sword Conference and wants possession of the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword.” Yun Che murmured, “It’s for the sake of releasing the confined devil blood. Since the key to releasing the devil blood lies in the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword, then, would he have the ability to control the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword?”
“He won’t be able to!” Jasmine shook her head, “During that time, Ye Mufeng surpassed Fen Juechen, whether it was his profound strength or the density of his devil blood. Even after the devil blood was released, he was still unable to control the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword. Come to think of it…” Jasmine considered Yun Che, “Aren’t you curious why the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword is able to release the Eternal Night Royal Family’s devil blood?”
“I’m guessing… the Eternal Night Royal Family’s devil blood originated from the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword?” Yun Che asked cautiously.
“Hmph, you’ve guessed it!” Unknowingly, Jasmine had strolled over to the sound obstruction barrier made for Hong’er. Watching the blissfully sleeping Hong’er, a gleam of tenderness flashed across Jasmine’s icy gaze, “According to Ye Mufeng’s memories, ten thousand years ago, the ancestors who established the Eternal Night Royal Family unexpectedly found the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword in a deserted place, south of the continent. When the Eternal Night Ancestor picked the sword up, he couldn’t sense the mighty aura of a sword, but a strange aura of darkness. Just when he was about to abandon the sword, he inadvertently brushed against a drop of black liquid on the hilt… within that moment of contact, the drop of black liquid instantly absorbed into his body.”
“Devil… blood!?” Yun Che exclaimed.
“Though the power of the bloodline contained within was weak, it was still on a different and much higher level, and once the devil blood entered his body the nature of his profound strength changed rapidly. Even his soul was affected, which caused his temperament to change greatly as well. However, it was fortunate that the Eternal Night Ancestor possessed great profound strength. Although his temperament became violent and explosive, it didn’t tamper with his character so much as to land him in a state where he became a bloodthirsty creature. Essentially, he fully retained his logic and reasoning, clearly aware that these changes originated from the devil blood.”
“And so, after he established the Eternal Night Royal Family, he decreed that all his newborn, direct descendants had to seal at least ninety percent of the devil bloodline, seizing the opportunity while the inherited bloodline was weak! Unless they faced a catastrophe, they were absolutely forbidden from releasing the seal. For a whole ten thousand years everyone obeyed. The Heavenly Sin Divine Sword became the entire clan’s sacred yet forbidden item, and they protected and looked over it for generations. For every generation, with the exception of the Eternal Night King, no one was allowed to come close or lay a finger on it, much less allow it to fall into another’s hands. The appellation Heavenly Sin Divine Sword was given by the Eternal Night Ancestor, meaning: those who carelessly lay a finger on it will have sinned and invoked heaven’s divine wrath!”
“Then, what about the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night? Where did it come from?” Yun Che asked.
“Similarly from the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword!” Jasmine knitted her eyebrows slightly, “The Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night was obtained from the sword by the same Eternal Night Ancestor. Just by removing the word ‘devil,’ the name was then changed to the Eternal Night Illusory God Record. It wasn’t mentioned within the inherited memories of the Eternal Night Royal Family how it was retrieved, clearly denying the knowledge to any descendants. Relying on this diluted devil blood and the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night, the Eternal Night Royal Family achieved the greatest strength, at the highest level on the Profound Sky Continent, within a short period of time.”
“The devil blood… the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night… both originated from the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword! But where did that sword come from? Why would it have the blood and art of the devil clan which were eliminated a million years ago?” Yun Che asked solemnly. This, he feared, could be the crux of the whole issue.
Jasmine’s tiny face was equally solemn, “This is also the point I’m most concerned about. Before the Eternal Night Ancestor obtained it, the Profound Sky Continent had absolutely not an iota of record on the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword. It was as if the sword appeared from thin air. The Eternal Night Royal Family does not know of its origins, nor does anyone else. However, we should be getting our answers soon…”
“Two months later, head to Supreme Ocean Palace and attend the Devil Sword Conference while you’re investigating the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest! I’d like to see exactly what secret that Heavenly Sin Divine Sword has! I can only hope that whatever is inside hasn’t dissipated during these ten thousand years!”
Jasmine’s voice had dipped; for the devil blood and art to have reappeared after a million years, even if it occurred in the Realm of the Gods, it would still be an earth shattering event. However, her expression was still calm, because on the Profound Sky Continent, even if she were to exhibit a small portion of her power, there was nothing that was not within her control.
“I’ve got it.” Yun Che nodded and inhaled a little, on one hand digesting the information that Jasmine loaded him with today, and on the other, sinking further into his rumination.
“What are you thinking about? Did it suddenly occur to you that what you’ve witnessed in your past two lives have been completely insignificant?” Jasmine slightly tilted her exquisite, doll-like face up, speaking in a patronizing tone and attitude.
“I’m thinking about… Fen Juechen’s situation.” Yun Che lifted his head, staring into the white expanse of the Sky Poison Pearl, “He is indeed as you described him to be, beyond pitiful and lamentable. His most pitiful aspect would be… he thought he had nothing, no relatives, only vengeance, yet fate arranged for him to stumble upon his former father’s soul. However, this father of his gave him not familial warmth to rely on as he lived his life, but turned him into a vessel for vengeance… you could even call him a tool.”
The remnants of Ye Mufeng’s soul recognized that Fen Juechen was Ye Huang. He should therefore be clear that this transference of his own memories and devil origin to Fen Juechen will cause the latter to gain immense power, but at the same time, to inherit and bear an unfathomable agony. Even his lifespan would be suddenly cut to just a few years, essentially turning him into a marionette whose sole purpose was revenge…
During that time, they ignored the consequences, disobeyed their ancestor’s instructions and activated the forbidden reincarnation technique on Ye Huang. This was in order to allow him to live on, continuing the bloodline of the Eternal Night Royal Family. But a thousand years later, Ye Mufeng’s remnant soul personally destroyed all of this, completely destroying all the effort put into preserving their son’s life…
This was absolutely not something a father would do.
“Should the current Fen Juechen be successful in his quest for vengeance, I fear he may no longer have any further attachments to the mortal world.” Yun Che murmured, rather emotionally. Just as the words left his mouth, the silhouette of Xiao Lingxi wavered across his vision…
Perhaps, there was still…
Jasmine was naturally clear on Yun Che’s hint, and she sneered, “The thousand year devil blood released by Ye Mufeng caused his soul to subsequently change its nature, and his temperament naturally followed suit to change greatly. This remnant soul bore a thousand years of suffering; at that time, his willpower, his vengeance, both were exponentially greater than his son’s! This is the devil! The devil that warps a human’s nature!”
“The devil… is indeed a fearsome thing! Fen Juechen, that guy…” Yun Che sighed in frustration, “I still really wish he could live a couple of years longer. Little Aunt’s heart is softer than cotton—she will surely be deluged in sorrow for a long time.”
“Also, his heart holds the most hatred for Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. It seems like he and I both have a common enemy… and there’s also that Sun Moon Divine Hall.”
Chapter 755 - Heavenly Sword Villa’s Distinguished Guests
After staying in Floating Cloud City for three days, Yun Che had fully recuperated from his injury and replenished his profound strength. On the fourth morning, Yun Che and Feng Xue’er bade farewell to Xiao Lingxi and the others, riding the Primordial Profound Ark toward Blue Wind Imperial City. They planned on stopping at Blue Wind Imperial City for two days before making their way to Frozen Cloud Asgard.
Number One Under Heaven had chosen to stay in Floating Cloud City to focus on the safety of Number Seven Under Heaven, worried that a mishap might befall her.
The Primordial Profound Ark traveled through space and arrived at Blue Wind Imperial City instantaneously.
A duration of three months was not enough for the Blue Wind Imperial Family to completely restore peace from the chaos of war, but it made a world of a difference regarding atmosphere. After discovering that Yun Che had a “mysterious master” behind him which even Sun Moon Divine Hall was afraid of, Feng Hengkong’s gestures were not simply to compensate them, but also to express goodwill. Within the span of two months, not only had he proactively sent additional Divine Phoenix soldiers to assist Blue Wind Empire, he also delivered forty thousand kilograms of purple crystals to them in three shipments.
Compared to the fifty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal they had “stolen” from the Blue Wind Empire, this eighty thousand catty of purple crystals was but a paltry sum. However, it was still a considerable sum of wealth and resources. At the same time, it served as a sign of their “goodwill” toward the Blue Wind Empire in the eyes of others. Additionally, a rumor that the Divine Phoenix Nation left behind their snow princess in the Blue Wind Empire caused the rest of the five nations of the Profound Sky to become ill at ease. Every nation sent envoys and even monarchs to frequently visits with presents. Their attitude became humble, as if they were facing the Divine Phoenix Nation.
When Yun Che and Feng Xue’er arrived at Blue Wind Imperial City, Cang Yue was reading through the status of reconstruction and resettlement of the various areas within Blue Wind. With Yun Che back, everything else would naturally take a backseat.
“Husband, you returned at just the right time. I something important to tell you.”
Although she said it was “something important,” Cang Yue’s beautiful eyes held a hint of amusement. “The somewhat secret plan where the Divine Phoenix Nation wanted to let younger sister Xue’er marry you has somehow spread like wildfire. Even the rest of the five nations are aware of it. Yesterday, the Navy Tide sent their envoy to propose a marriage between their princess Hanyu and yourself, thereby securing an alliance of marriage like that of Qin and Jin with our Blue Wind Empire.”
Qin? Jin? What?*
“Ah?” Feng Xue’er cried softly and stared at Yun Che with her beautiful glistening eyes.
“Mn? Yue’er, judging by your appearance… don’t tell me that you agree?” Yun Che touches his nose.
Cang Yue said with a smile, “Princess Hanyu is not an ordinary princess. She is the youngest daughter of the Navy Tide monarch. She is less than twenty years old this year but is already well known. There was a rumor circulating that, not only was she extremely beautiful but she is also the most intelligent daughter of the Navy Tide monarch. She is the most beloved daughter of Navy Tide’s monarch by far and was named the Frost Navy Princess of Jade. They have taken the initiative this time to make the proposal on the marriage, so it shows their sincerity.
“They brought a portrait of Princess Hanyu. I took a glance and felt that you might like her, so I did not decline.”
Cang Yue… and everyone else were well aware that part of the reason why the five nations of Profound Sky changed their attitude toward Blue Wind was because of the Divine Phoenix Empire, while the main reason was Yun Che… a man who had caused even the Divine Phoenix Nation to have no choice but to give in.
Although he was merely the prince consort of Blue Wind during the reign of Cang Wanhe, he had henceforth undoubtedly become the ruling “monarch” in the eyes of other nations.
As she spoke, Cang Yue placed an exquisite portrait scroll in front of Yun Che, her eyes brimming with joy and contentment… She did not reject Navy Tide and had even kept the portrait. This was not meant to tease Yun Che. She thought he might genuinely like her. As long as he showed the tiniest bit of fondness, she would accept the arrangement. As for the ties between the two nations… they were secondary.
Oh, it’s good to be powerful. Even beautiful princesses are knocking at the door… Yun Che thought to himself. He took the scroll but did not unroll it. Instead, he asked with a serious expression, “Yue’er, is this Princess Hanyu as pretty as Xue’er?”
Cang Yue was startled for a moment, but then shook her head with a smile. “Xue’er is like the embodiment of a heavenly fairy, her beauty can put the sun and moon to shame. Princess Hanyu is undoubtedly a ravishing beauty, but she is nowhere near comparable to Little Sister Xue’er.”
“Oh!” Yun Che nodded and then put the scroll down. “In that case, forget it. I would not be interested in a girl I have not even met before, much less marry her… unless she were as pretty as Xue’er.”
“Hee…” Feng Xue’er laughed. “Big Brother Yun, you are flattering me again.”
Cang Yue retrieved the scroll and said with a smile, “The envoy of Navy Tide is still in the city. If my husband does not like it, then I really will reject them you know?”
“Mm, reject them firmly and with any kind of reason.” Yun Che said with a helpless expression. A man married to any woman from a family with even the slightest bit of power would face countless objections to taking a concubine. With her status as Blue Wind Nation’s monarch, Cang Yue was instead pampering him to the heavens…
Yun Che suddenly noticed that, among the jade scrolls placed next to Cang Yue’s hand, there was a green male eagle imprinted on the topmost jade scroll. This imprint… was obviously the unique “Heavenly Eagle Imprint” that belonged to the Xiao Sect!
“Have the people from Xiao Sect been here recently?” Yun Che asked in a casual manner. It was not surprising for them to have visited.
“Mn.” Cang Yue nodded gently. “Since two months ago, Xiao Sect has been constantly seeking an audience. Each time, it was the Xiao Sect Master, Xiao Juetian, who came personally. Since I still feel some resentment toward them, I have never agreed to meet with them. A few days ago, they attempted to send these jade scrolls, pledging their loyalty to our royal family and placing their services at our disposal.”
During the three years of invasion by Divine Phoenix, the Xiao Sect did not put up any resistance. The fact that they stooped to grovelling could be written off and ignored, but they also provided resources to support the Divine Phoenix Army as “tribute.” This greatly bolstered the Divine Phoenix Army’s ability to conquer Blue Wind. With a complete reversal in circumstances, they would naturally be terrified and restless, desperately rushing to grand gestures of apology and expressing their loyalty.
“Xiao Sect.” Yun Che sneered,ut his smile immediately vanished as he thought of something. “What about Heavenly Sword Villa, did they show up during this period?”
At the mention of “Heavenly Sword Villa,” Cang Yue’s radiant smile slightly subsided. She shook her head gently. “No. Back then, when my royal father was killed and Blue Wind was in a perilous situation, Heavenly Sword Villa’s indifference angered me. They also said that they’re breaking off all ties and swear that we would be enemies henceforth. Now that the Blue Wind Empire has managed to endure this adversity and rebuild, Heavenly Sword Villa… is acting as if nothing happened before, as if they do not exist.”
Cang Yue’s expression and tone were calm, as if she were apparently taking things quite lightly. Yet, from her disappearing smile, it was clear that she was unable to get over this matter.
She had personally written to them nine times. She was an empress, yet she had to resort to pleading for their help… To avoid any retaliation, Heavenly Sword Villa betrayed her and rejected her pleas. She could have accepted the first few rejections, but her nine pleas yielded nine counts of apathy. Without even a shadow of a reply, it was as if the Blue Wind Imperial Family did not exist.
That was a kind of resentment and humiliation that would never be forgotten.
Three months ago, when the Divine Phoenix Army retreated and gave various forms of apologies and compensation to Blue Wind, striving to express their goodwill, Heavenly Sword Villa did not visit the imperial family a single time…
“Hmph, that’s right. They don’t have the face to show up.” Yun Che laughed coldly, his laughter carrying an underlying gloominess that Cang Yue and Feng Xue’er did not understand. “It’s fine if they don’t come, I have wanted to pay them a visit anyway… Let’s make it today, then!”
Blue Wind Nation, Heavenly Sword Villa.
The atmosphere of Heavenly Sword Villa was especially solemn and rigid because the villa had received distinguished guests, with terrifyingly high statuses.
The arrival of these two people caused the auras of the swords surrounding Heavenly Sword Villa to undergo tremendous changes.
“For two elders to personally make a trip to our villa… I, Yuefeng, am extremely perplexed. If I had known of the two elders’ arrival earlier, Yuefeng would have summoned the whole villa to welcome you from a hundred miles away.”
Ling Yuefeng’s respectful posture belied his fear. He personally served tea to his two distinguished guests… It was a hundred year old collection known as the Swordgreen Tea, a tea so precious that he would usually be unwilling to drink it.
“It is a pleasant surprise that both uncles are here. You should have notified Yufeng in advance so that I could welcome you along with my husband.”
Compared to Ling Yuefeng, Xuanyuan Yufeng was more at ease. Although the two distinguished guests present were indeed her uncles in terms of seniority, both of them had showered her with tender loving care when she was young.
The two people appeared to be past their fifties, but their hair and beards were still black. The man on the left wore a green gown, had a medium build, and wore a cheerful expression. The one on the right wore a gray gown, was slightly taller than the other, and had a thick beard that reached his chest. He similarly had a warm expression. If one were to look purely at their appearance, they were both simply two gentle, middle-aged men, but to sword expert Ling Yuefeng, he could sense gusts of cold from them… Even though they were just sitting there, their profound energy suppressed, a formless sword energy shrouded them. The sword energy was majestic, as if were a boundless, immeasurably deep ocean.
Their eyebrows were shaped, pointing upwards as if two sharp swords were stabbing into the sky, and instilled fear in others.
“Hoho.” The elder dressed in green said with a mild smile, “The two of us were instructed by the Sword Master to make a trip to the Black Fiend Nation, and before we departed, Ninth Elder made a request. Once we settled matters in Black Fiend Nation, we made a detour here.”
Xuanyuan Yufeng stepped forward and said, “This must be an important task since the Sword Master himself gave these instructions, and it was personally attended to by both elders. With such an important matter on hand, both elders still made a detour to visit us. We are certainly honored.”
The elder dressed in gray stroked his long beard and said with a mild smile, “ Not at all. We are obliged to fulfill Ninth Elder’s request. Yuefeng can be considered a part of our Sword Region, and Yufeng is all the more so. Both of you should ease up on the formality, hohohoho.”
“For my father-in-law to have requested both elders to come personally… should he have any instructions, Yuefeng will be happy to fulfill them.” Ling Yuefeng said respectfully. If it was three years ago, he would not have dared to say “father-in-law,” but he was now used to it.
“It’s nothing that important.” The elder in green said with a dull smile, “Ninth Elder likes Ling Jie very much. Ever since he left the Sword Region to return here, Ninth Elder has missed him daily even though it has been less than half a year. He instructed us to bring Ling Jie on our way back once we settled issues in Black Fiend Nation.”
“If neither of you have anything important to attend to, it would be best to return with us.” The elder in gray continued, “Ninth Elder rarely smiles, but he is always overjoyed when he reunites with all of you.”
Ling Yuefeng and Xuanyuan Yufeng smiled at each other, their faces revealing joy. Xuanyuan Yufeng and her father Xuanyuan Jue had originally “severed” their ties, but Xuanyuan Yufeng was the only daughter of Xuanyuan Jue after all. After some time, the anger subsided. Although he missed his daughter, it was difficult for him to admit it because of his pride. Three years ago, when both husband and wife brought Ling Yun and Ling Jie back to the sword region, the strained relationship began to soften… Furthermore, Xuanyuan Jue liked Ling Jie so much that not only had he personally guided him in swordplay, but he also spent a generous amount of the sword region’s resources on him. This helped Ling Jie’s profound strength and sword art to improve tremendously in the past few years.
The main reason for Xuanyuan Jue’s relationship with the husband and wife softening so much over the past three years could be attributed to Ling Jie.
Xuanyuan Yufeng smiled and was just about to accept when, suddenly, a deep, thunderous voice boomed from outside.
“Xuanyuan Yufeng, come on out!!”
*OverTheRanbow: This is a stupid 4th wall break joke because of the proverb 秦晋之好, which refers to an alliance sealed by marriage between Qin and Jin Dynasty in the real world’s chinese history. Obviously Yun Che had never heard of such dynasties because they do not exist in the ATG world, so he’s reacting to it.
Chapter 756 - Condemnation
“This stretch of mountain was conferred on Heavenly Sword Villa by the Blue Wind Royal Family a thousand years ago. Since then, it has been renamed as the Heavenly Sword Mountain Range. The summit of the tallest mountain is known as the Summit of Cloud Piercing Sword, and it is also the highest peak in Blue Wind Nation.”
From a bird’s eye view, Yun Che introduced the area in detail to Feng Xue’er. When he first arrived at Heavenly Sword Villa years ago, he was awed by the Heavenly Sword Mountain Range with its surging sword aura. Coupled with the Heavenly Sword Mountain Range’s reputation, a reverence was naturally born in his heart.
This time however, when he faced Heavenly Sword Villa once again, he felt mildly scornful. This feeling of scorn definitely did not emerge from him being strong and looking down on the weak. It was contempt birthed from his heart for all of Heavenly Sword Villa!
When he first arrived at Heavenly Sword Villa six years ago, it never crossed his mind that Heavenly Sword Villa of Blue Wind, in all its tremendous overshadowing power and magnificence, would land in such a sorry plight when faced with Blue Wind Nation’s difficulty and Frozen Cloud’s crisis.
“Big Brother Yun, I’d like to know, how do you plan to deal with Heavenly Sword Villa with your visit this time?” Feng Xue’er asked gently, her words imbued with worry, “Are you going to just to teach them a small lesson, or go… go…”
He had previously damaged Phoenix City into a complete mess. As for Heavenly Sword Villa… to the current Yun Che, even if he wished to demolish them, it was not going to cost him much effort.
Yun Che was slightly startled by Feng Xue’er’s question. He lifted his gaze and his vision was filled with the surrounding range of mountains around the villa. He said regretfully: “Perhaps I’m here solely to vent my anger. Although Heavenly Sword Villa was morally despicable because of their betrayal, they were able to preserve their Heavenly Sword Villa’s thousand year foundation. Besides, selfishness is human nature. Thinking from this angle, I have constantly attempted to absolve Heavenly Sword Villa during this period, but in the end… I still cannot forgive Heavenly Sword Villa. Since they chose to betray the trust placed in them, they naturally have to bear the consequences of that betrayal. Back then, both the Blue Wind Imperial Family and Heavenly Sword Villa pledged to survive or perish together. With this catastrophe that Blue Wind has suffered through, Heavenly Sword Villa has no right to escape unscathed after their betrayal!!”
“And… even if I were magnanimous enough to forgive Heavenly Sword Villa, Little Fairy’s matter… simply cannot be overlooked!”
Recalling the incident involving Chu Yuechan, Yun Che’s peaceful mindset abruptly emanated an aura of viciousness… with this nascent aura, he became irascible and uncontrollable. Ever since Zi Ji disseminated the “free” information of the mastermind behind Chu Yuechan’s incident, the formerly fading memory of the name “Xuanyuan Yufeng” was brutally nailed into his heart and soul with bitter vengeance.
“Big Brother Yun…” Feng Xue’er instantly sensed the change in Yun Che’s emotions. She turned her face and looked at him with bright and clear eyes. Whenever the name “Little Fairy” was mentioned, his breathing and aura became agitated. Now at Heavenly Sword Villa, the aura he suddenly emanated was frighteningly maniacal, his gaze turned terrifying.
During the past three months of constant day and night companionship, Feng Xue’er’s initial surprise and anxiety gradually changed to understanding… Towards Chu Yuechan, Yun Che held deep affections, worry, yearning, guilt… and fear, of not seeing her again. That was why whenever he mentioned her, or thought of her, he would fall into a state of agitation for a long period of time.
Grabbing Feng Xue’er’s hand, Yun Che hastened down towards Heavenly Sword Villa. At the same time, a deep, somber voice with a ruthless aura encompassed Heavenly Sword Villa, and even the entire Heavenly Sword Mountains Range.
“Xuanyuan Yufeng, come on out!!”
Yun Che’s profound strength was robust and powerful; a frisson of shock ran through the dignified sword aura surrounding Heavenly Sword Villa purely from his roar. The several thousand swords dancing in the Sword Management Terrace became chaotic. All at once, the originally tranquil and solemn Heavenly Sword Villa was thrown into turmoil. Almost all disciples, pavilion masters, sword attendants and elders rushed out in rage, as if facing their nemesis.
After all, no one has ever dared to provoke Heavenly Sword Villa since their establishment a thousand years ago.
“Heavenly Sword Villa seems to have two incredible guests today.” Jasmine said suddenly.
“Incredible… guests?” Yun Che frowned.
“Two level six Monarchs, one mid-stage, and one late-stage. Seems like you won’t be getting your way today.” Jasmine said lightly.
“Level six Monarchs?” Yun Che startled slightly but did not express any worry and sneered instead, “Don’t tell me they’re from Mighty Heavenly Sword Region? Heh, it looks like I’ve come at the wrong time. Heavenly Sword Villa is really clinging on to whoever is backing them for dear life.”
Yun Che suddenly recalled a conversation he had with Ling Jie three years ago in Phoenix City, when he met the latter unexpectedly after the Profound Sky Seven Nation Ranking Tournament…
“Back in the day, mother chose father over grandfather, causing grandfather to be furious. A few days back, father and mother brought big brother and I to Mighty Heavenly Sword Region to meet grandfather. Mother and grandfather finally resolved their differences. Eh… grandfather even seemed to like me a lot, and even said that he would personally teach me the complete Heaven’s Might Absolute Sword, hehe…”
“…” Yun Che’s expression subtly turned complicated.
Yun Che did not conceal himself, but blatantly showed up above Heavenly Sword Villa, coldly staring down.
There were many shadows scurrying around in Heavenly Sword Villa. Directly below Yun Che, a silhouette accompanied by a cold, dense sword aura shot upwards and appeared in front of him in a split second… It was Ling Yuefeng. At the same time, a number of Heavenly Sword pavilion masters and elders, wielding profound strength in the Earth Profound Realm and above followed hot on his heels, quickly falling into their battle formation and surrounding Yun Che and Feng Xue’er.
“Yun Che, it’s really you.” Ling Yuefeng’s expression became especially complex when he saw Yun Che, and he said with a mild smile, “You came later than I expected.”
Indeed, he had predicted that this day would come.
At first, in order to protect the thousand years of foundation of Heavenly Sword Villa from the chaos brought by Divine Phoenix, they chose to violate the promise made by their ancestors, committing a betrayal of trust that breached morality. The villa was sealed, and the pleas for assistance sent by the Blue Wind Imperial Family and Frozen Cloud Asgard were ignored. At that time, it had never occurred to them that the Blue Wind Imperial Family would survive, much less this complete reversal of what was supposed to be an expected outcome.
And the reason for this variance, was Yun Che’s return.
Yun Che was infamous for seeking revenge for any grievances suffered. The tragic extermination of the Burning Heaven Clan that year was an event nobody dared to let slip from their memory. After Yun Che survived, the first thing he did upon his return was to serve a revenge many times more devastating than the extermination of the Burning Heaven Clan… towards the Divine Phoenix Sect which had the Profound Sky Seven Nations under their thumb. He made them suffer a crushing defeat, and threw them into a state of chaos and unrest. Eventually, they were forced to withdraw and even offered an apology and an enormous compensation to Blue Wind Nation… Moreover, it was rumored that these were the consequences after Empress Cang Yue pardoned them. Otherwise, the Divine Phoenix Sect might have had to pay a more tragic price.
With Yun Che’s character, it would have been impossible for him to forget Heavenly Sword Villa’s “sin of apathy” after the war. After all, Heavenly Sword Villa was different from the other profound cultivating forces… At the same time, there were rumors that he saved Frozen Cloud Asgard from an imminent demise. He assumed the new appointment as the Asgard Master, as both the former Asgard Mistress Gong Yuxian and the Grand Asgard Mistress Feng Qianhui had perished…
At Yun Che’s hands, the Divine Phoenix Sect was left devastated beyond hope; Heavenly Sword Villa would not even stand a chance.
The current Yun Che was worlds apart from himself of three years ago.
Ling Yuefeng’s gaze roamed towards Yun Che’s side, and he startled slightly. The young girl next to Yun Che wore a snowy white robe, her waist wrapped with thin jade silk, signifying an outfit of the Frozen Cloud Asgard. Her face was obscured by a muslin, and one could only vaguely see a pair of beautiful eyes.
Although her face could not be seen, her entire body exuded an ethereal and fairy-esque aura. Merely looking at her would cause one to feel ashamed and inferior, and would have qualms about being disrespectful…
This feeling, it was exactly the same back when he first met Chu Yuechan… That particular scene, that moment his heart palpitated wildly, he would never forget it even on his deathbed.
“Ah…” Yue Che let out an ear-piercing sneer, which snapped him out of his fleeting absent-mindedness, “Isn’t this the awe-inspiring Villa Master Ling Yuefeng of the supposed number one sect in Blue Wind Nation, the illustrious Heavenly Sword Villa? To have impulsively dropped by for a visit without prior notice and troubled renowned Villa Master Ling to personally greet me, this junior is intimidated beyond his wits.”
As long as one was not deaf, one would be able to hear the ice in Yun Che’s tone and his derisive sarcasm. The closest Heavenly Sword Elder exclaimed furiously, “Yun Che, don’t forget your status! In our Heavenly Sword Villa, you have no place to behave audaciously!!”
“Step down!” Ling Yuefeng’s chest heaved, as he uttered heavily.
“Villa Master…” the surrounding Heavenly Sword elders and pavilion masters who stood by gravely were shocked and stared at Ling Yuefeng, bewildered and nonplussed.
“Step down, all of you!” Ling Yuefeng’s tone hardened, “Without my order, no one is allowed to come any closer!”
Under Ling Yuefeng’s strict order, all Heavenly Sword elders and pavilion masters retreated gradually while staring at Yun Che with unrestrained alarm, until everyone was a distance away. They were well aware that if Yun Che decided to strike, with his caliber of strength that left the Divine Phoenix Sect in chaos, even if their strength were to be multiplied by ten, it would be moot.
Once everyone had retreated, Ling Yuefeng faced Yun Che and inhaled deeply. The last time he met Yun Che was five or six years ago, and at that time, Yun Che was merely a junior who caught his attention slightly. Today, although the current Yun Che in front of him has not changed much in terms of appearance, with the exception of growing slightly taller. However, when facing him, there was a distinct pressure not unlike facing a mountain.
He held exceptionally complicated feelings towards Yun Che… It could perhaps be understood as a deep envy and jealousy, stemming from his unrequited love for his beloved Chu Yuechan who did not even once spare him a glance, yet towards this twenty something year old boy…
At the same time, there was a feeling of unavoidable resentment, although he was clear that he was not in any position to do so.
“Yun Che.” Ling Yuefeng said with a calm tone, “I have not left the villa these past two months, since I was awaiting your visit, or even someone from the Blue Wind Imperial Household. We sealed the villa for the past few years as we were powerless to help, but we still feel ashamed. I have nothing further to say since you are here to condemn us.”
Yun Che raised his eyebrow and was just about to speak, when an elderly, dignified voice spoke from a distance, “The decision to seal the villa was made by me. The decision to withhold assistance to Frozen Cloud Asgard was also made by me.”
As soon as the voice was heard, an elder dressed in an ash-colored gown arrived beside Ling Yuefeng. He glanced at Yun Che and slowly closed his eyes, “Since you are here today… then I will naturally provide an explanation.”
“Father, these are clearly the decisions I made… you didn’t have anything to do with them!” Ling Tianni’s appearance and his words caused Ling Yuefeng to momentarily lose his train of thought, and he hurriedly added, “Yun Che, my father said all that to shield me. As the current villa master of Heavenly Sword Villa, all of the decisions were made by me and have nothing to do with my father. If you have any grievances, you should just direct them at me!”
“Haha, how wonderful that father and son are mutually protecting each other, simply touching enough to move the world!” Yun Che sneered and directed his piercingly sharp glare at Ling Tianni, “Ling Tianni, you and I have no relations, yet you traveled thousands of miles to the Blue Wind Imperial City to have me killed under the pretext of ridding evil back then, under the guise of justice and under the pretense of purging danger from Blue Wind! Although I was badly injured and almost died by your hands, I still maintained a modicum of respect towards you in my heart because I believed your intention towards me arose from the misunderstanding that I was a malevolent and bloodthirsty person. I thought you were an upright and principled person who loathed evil, a trustworthy and honest man!”
“Yet when the country was facing a real crisis, even if no vow was made with the Blue Wind Profound Palace’s ancestor, Heavenly Sword Villa should have stepped up as the core strength. In the end, under the leadership of Ling Tianni, Heavenly Sword Villa has become Blue Wind Nation’s biggest cowards!” Yun Che criticized unreservedly, “When Blue Wind Nation was enveloped in the flames of war and rivers of blood were shed, Heavenly Sword Villa has suffered not even a single loss in the past three years. It moved not a single muscle, and not even a shadow was seen. Recalling how you used to proudly proclaim those ostentatiously dignified words makes me nauseous!”
“…Yun Che!” Ling Yuefeng’s face darkened slightly, “Heavenly Sword Villa has acknowledged this matter and is accordingly ashamed! But this decision was made considering our circumstantial difficulties. If you want to exact revenge, I, Ling Yuefeng will be accountable… desist humiliating my father!”
“That’s enough, Yuefeng. What he said was right, there is no need to absolve me.” Ling Tianni raised his hand and said weakly. With the passing of just a few years, his appearance had aged rapidly. Perhaps for the past few years years, he had been carrying a heavy guilt in his heart. “Yun Che, I’ve said that I will naturally give you and the Blue Wind Imperial Family an explanation regarding this matter.”
“An explanation?” Yun Che turned and said coldly, “Hah, I have not said I needed any explanation from you!”
“Originally, I did intend to level Heavenly Sword Villa.” Yun Che’s frosty tone and words had anyone listening shudder in fear, “Don’t assume that I’m unable to deliver just because you have the backing of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region! Three months ago, even the Divine Phoenix Sect’s Phoenix City was almost completely razed to the ground by my hand. For me to destroy just Heavenly Sword Villa without even blinking is as easy as pie!”
Ling Tianni’s and Ling Yuefeng’s breathing simultaneously became rougher and heavier. If those words were uttered by anyone else, it could have been brushed off as a joke, but because it came from Yun Che, it sent a chill down their spines and they could barely crack a smile.
“However, before I left the Blue Wind Imperial City today, my empress wife stopped me and said this: Heavenly Sword Villa may have disregarded the ancestor’s vow, but the Blue Wind Imperial Family will not do likewise! The founders of Blue Wind and Heavenly Sword pledged to support each other as pillars of power and strength in Blue Wind, to survive and perish together as brothers, and all descendants were mandated to maintain close ties with Heavenly Sword Villa! Today, even if Heavenly Sword Villa is indifferent and callous, as descendants of the Blue Wind Ancestor, we will not disobey the ancestor’s instructions and destroy the legacy of the Heavenly Sword Ancestor.”
“For three years, she was saddled with the pain from the passing of her father and her husband. She shouldered the burden of Blue Wind Nation’s crisis and protected the final dignity of Blue Wind Nation and the royal family. However, she abandoned her own dignity and sought help from you nine times! But what did she gain from this…?” Yun Che inhaled violently, his voice becoming more frigid and bitter, “Therefore, she should be the one who carries the most hatred for you in this world, and is the most qualified person to seek vengeance. But it is also her, her who had wanted me to forgive you. At the very least, to not eliminate Heavenly Sword Villa… but pretend Heavenly Sword Villa did not exist!”
With those words from Yun Che, Ling Tianni and Ling Yuefeng’s gazes wavered… As they recalled Empress Cang Yue’s nine letters of plea written with her blood and tears, a sourness welled up in their hearts, and their expressions turned markedly contrite.
Chapter 757 - Xuanyuan Yufeng!
“Which is why, you can go ahead and set your hearts at ease. Since my empress wife has made a request, I have no interest in finding trouble with Heavenly Sword Villa. I’m not about to let her stoop to your level. She would feel ashamed when meeting her ancestor in the other world!!”
Ling Tianni and Ling Yuefeng’s faces stiffened; they had prepared themselves to pay a hefty price should they face condemnation from Yun Che and the Blue Wind Imperial Family. But this, this was “forgiveness.” This kind of forgiveness astounded them, making them feel ashamed and embarrassed…
Ling Tianni closed his eyes, flashes of emotional pain crossed his face. Although, facing the Divine Phoenix Nation whose power was second to none, it was wisest to seal their villa doors. Even if they made a move, they could not promise to save the Blue Wind Imperial Family, they would only accelerate their villa’s demise. But no matter what reasons or excuses of hardship they were facing, it was a fact that they turned a blind eye and went back on their word.
“Empress Cang Yue is matchless in her farsightedness, her heart as wide as a valley, her current fame and prestige far surpass the late emperor. Her future accomplishments will be limitless. For Blue Wind to be led by such an empress is a once a century fortune. I, Ling Tianni, have lived my life with a clear conscience… but because of thoughts of comfort, I ended up letting down the Blue Wind Imperial Family, Frozen Cloud Asgard and even my own Heavenly Sword Ancestor.” Ling Tianni’s voice was full of regret and carried hints of pain, “Although I no longer have the face to see Empress Cang Yue, my wrongdoings have been cast in stone, and I cannot keep making mistakes. Tomorrow, I will personally make a trip to Blue Wind Imperial City and apologize before Empress Cang Yue…”
“Forget it!” Yun Che raised a hand, unforgivingly interrupting Ling Tianni’s speech, “My empress wife is working very hard right now and doesn’t have the time to entertain you. She also doesn’t want to see you nor anyone from Heavenly Sword Villa! Ling Tianni, you can also quit your hypocritical act. The reason why you are saying all these is because the Blue Wind Imperial Family has been defended, and if the Blue Wind Imperial Family wishes for it, as long as my empress wife calls for it, I could stomp your Heavenly Sword Villa flat anytime I want! If the Blue Wind Imperial Family perished and I was already dead… would your face be like that right now?!”
Ling Tianni’s lips trembled and was left speechless.
“A person who would be indifferent when his own nation was being exterminated, someone who was still hard-hearted after my empress wife begged with her tears and blood, has already ceased to possess any honor or shame. Your so-called shame and apology have no meaning in my eyes, they are not even comparable to a joke!” Yun Che’s eyes were ice-cold, his voice chilled them to the bone. He said without any mercy, “If during these three years, even if you did not bother about the extermination of Blue Wind Nation, and only used your power to help the Blue Wind Imperial Family, even if you merely sent people to protect the safety of my royal father and empress wife, then today, the Blue Wind Imperial Family would be grateful to you. I would be grateful towards you too! What you lost in that time, I would have repaid you tenfold! I, Yun Che, have always repaid my favors and graces!”
“However you chose to be ruthless and shameless. You cannot blame anyone else for the result of today’s outcome! You should be glad for my empress wife’s compassion, otherwise, after today, Heavenly Sword Villa would no longer exist… even Mighty Heavenly Sword Region would not be able to protect you!!”
Whether it was Ling Tianni or Ling Yuefeng, both were legends within Blue Wind Nation. When were they ever insulted and abused before? However, facing Yun Che’s ear-piercing words, they tilted their heads, with their eyes closed, and didn’t retort… they did not have the qualifications to retort.
After all, even though they chose to selfishly ignore Blue Wind Nation’s crisis, they were not actually vile people who did not know the meaning of shame. On the contrary, no matter if it was the human way or the way of the sword, they had some accomplishments on the righteous path. The past three years was probably the biggest shame and wrong doing of their entire lives.
Ling Tianni and Ling Yuefeng did not retort, however, an incomparably piercing female voice came from below, “Yun Che, you really have quite the manner of speaking. You not only dishonor my Heavenly Sword Villa, you even dare to disregard Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, who gave you such guts!?”
Xuanyuan Yufeng soared into the air, landing to the right of Ling Yuefeng. Her decently beautiful face showed a completely opposite expression from Ling Yuefeng. She looked at Yun Che with a face full of anger, hostility and ridicule.
“Xuanyuan Yufeng!” Yun Che slowly squinted his eyes. The woman in front of him was the real reason he was came to Heavenly Sword Villa today.
“Yufeng, this does not concern you, quickly go back.” Ling Yuefeng said lightly. He deeply understood Xuanyuan Yufeng’s temper, and knew Yun Che was not one to swallow it.
“Does not concern me?” Xuanyuan Yufeng laughed coldly, “He already clearly said that he wasn’t here on the behalf of the Blue Wind Imperial Family. As to the real reason why he is here today… ah, the words he yelled when he arrived, were my, Xuanyuan Yufeng’s, name! How could this not concern me!”
Ling Yuefeng shook when he heard it, then suddenly recalled, the words that Yun Che yelled when he reached Heavenly Sword Villa were clearly…
“Xuanyuan Yufeng, come on out!!”
He was already prepared for Yun Che’s arrival, he was sure that Yun Che would be here on the behalf of the Blue Wind Imperial Family… He subconsciously did not notice that the person he yelled for was actually “Xuanyuan Yufeng,” and only “Xuanyuan Yufeng.”
“Xuanyuan Yufeng!” After Xuanyuan Yufeng appeared, Yun Che’s gaze fixed deadly onto her. The look in his eye and the aura on his body had also become bone-piercingly cold. The atmosphere had even become so tense that killing intent could appear any moment, “Between us… we have a huge debt to account for!!”
Facing Ling Yuefeng and Ling Tianni, Yun Che’s voice was full of contempt and disdain. However, when he spoke to Xuanyuan Yufeng, his words were laced with killing intent.
The abrupt change in atmosphere suddenly made Ling Yuefeng aware that the situation was very abnormal… not just simply abnormal! Resentment, coldness and killing intent, all these he could perceive clearly. He hurriedly stepped forward, “Yun Che, there must have been some sort of misunderstanding! Ever since my wife married into Heavenly Sword Villa, she practically never leaves the villa, and does not interfere with matters that do not pertain to the villa. My wife only met you six years ago, and you did not even converse. How could there be any animosity?
“Moreover, all the decisions made in the past few years were solely made by me, the villa master, they had nothing to do with my wife at all… There must have been a misunderstanding!”
Ling Yuefeng was not merely protecting her. He was the clearest on what Xuanyuan Yufeng had done these past years. After marrying into the villa, she practically never stepped out of the villa. For the past few years, the few times that she did leave, were only to return to Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, and those few times, he had followed along… He absolutely could not think of how Xuanyuan Yufeng could have provoked Yun Che, and from the looks of it, there was an enormous amount of hatred.
“Misunderstanding?” Both of Yun Che’s hands tightened, his joints turning white, “Xuanyuan Yufeng! Whether it is a misunderstanding, your heart knows it the clearest! Today, I do not need any explanation from Heavenly Sword Villa, but you…”
Before finishing his words, Yun Che could not restrain his anger, his silhouette rushed out explosively, his gaze like a cold star, his hands grabbing onto Xuanyuan Yufeng’s neck like an eagle’s talons.
“Stop!” Ling Yuefeng and Ling Tianni yelled in alarm at the same time, they were still wondering what kind of hatred did Yun Che have towards Xuanyuan Yufeng, but they never imagined that he would actually make a move, and so viciously.
Ling Yuefeng and Ling Tianni went in both directions, intending to stop Yun Che. However, though their strength was like an insurmountable mountain to Yun Che six years ago, today, their roles had completely reversed. They had only taken half a step, without even having the time to raise their arms, and they were struck by the waves of air brought by Yun Che’s body… they did not even have a shred of power to resist.
At this point, an ear-piercing slashing sound rang out. A streak of sword energy tyrannical to the point that it warped space as it flew from below. One moment it was three hundred meters away, in the next moment, as if striding across space, it suddenly swept towards Yun Che.
Clang!!
Yun Che turned his body, blasting all the profound energy he had already prepared at his front. The space in front of him distorted, the path which the sword energy was taking bent by a huge degree, flying straight behind Yun Che. At the same time, Yun Che was forced to retreat back beside Feng Xue’er, looking coldly at the two silhouettes which just appeared. “Looks like the two of you are finally willing to appear, I almost thought that Mighty Heavenly Sword Region was full of cowards.”
Yun Che held a deep sense of resentment towards Mighty Heavenly Sword Region so he did not hold back when speaking.
“Hohohoho…”
Amidst the gentle laugh, two similarly aged elders floated in the air, each to the left and right sides of Xuanyuan Yufeng. One was wearing a green robe and the other a gray robe, on their backs were respectively green and gray longswords. Their gazes were as sharp and cold as the edge of a blade, the profound energy they possessed was naturally as deep and boundless as the vast ocean.
They were not the least bit angry upon hearing Yun Che’s derogatory words about Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. The elder in green gazed at Yun Che for a moment, then slightly nodded his head and said with a slight smile, “Although this old one has been at the Sword Region for a long time, in recent times, the name Yun Che has a well-known reputation. I thought I would be able to view your talent in two months at the Devil Sword Conference. Who knew that we would have a chance encounter here? This could be counted as a fortunate event.”
“Elders.” The aura on both Ling Tianni’s and Ling Yuefeng’s bodies were in a huge mess from Yun Che’s previous attack. Seeing the elders in green and gray appear, they hurriedly clasped their hands before their chests and saluted. That was because to them at Heavenly Sword Villa, these two were high ranking people they could not afford to neglect.
However, Yun Che was entirely different from them. Even though he clearly knew they were from Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, much less the fact that they had the status of Elders, his face was as dark as before, “Fortunate event? Since it is a fortunate event, what does the attack from before mean? Since you have heard of my great name, then, have you ever heard of this? I am a person who… holds an extremely deep grudge!”
Chapter 758 - Xuanyuan Jiuding
When Yun Che shouted out the four words “Mighty Heavenly Sword Region”, it surprised Xuanyuan Yufeng, Ling Yuefeng and the rest. What shocked them even more was that the expression and tone Yun Che used when he shouted “Mighty Heavenly Sword Region”, were actually overbearing and carried an evident disrespect. The phrase “full of cowards” even brought along a certain degree of shame.
Mighty Heavenly Sword Region was a force of the highest level in Profound Sky Continent. In the eyes of Heavenly Sword Villa, they were even more so like a divine city floating in the clouds, an extraordinary existence which they desperately wanted to depend on, and definitely did not dare to disrespect or offend in the slightest. Furthermore, they had never seen or even heard of there being someone who would dare be this overbearing when facing people from Mighty Heavenly Sword Region.
These two elderly men were even Elder-class figures who carried extremely high standings in Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. They possessed incredible profound strength that could be said to pierce the skies!
“Yun Che, you sure have huge guts!!” Xuanyuan Yufeng’s face was filled with anger. With two Mighty Heavenly Sword Region Elders by her side, how could she possibly possess the slightest bit of hesitation in front of Yun Che? She furiously said, “Even though you know that the two esteemed guests of our villa hail from Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, you still actually dare to be this disrespectful with your words! Do you think that after lording all over Divine Phoenix Nation, you have the qualifications to behave this arrogantly in front of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region!?”
“Milady!” Ling Yuefeng immediately uttered, wanting to stop Xuanyuan Yufeng from continuing. Enraging two Elder-class figures of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region who possessed monstrous profound strength… It was definitely impossible for Yun Che to leave this place alive.
With his knowledge, even if Yun Che’s profound strength has grown by a heaven-bending degree in these few years he was “dead,” and was now sufficient to deter the Divine Phoenix Sect, how could he possibly contend against Mighty Heavenly Sword Region as well…? The latter was after all a supreme sacred ground which had looked down on Profound Sky Continent for ten thousand years!
Xuanyuan Yufeng, however, directly ignored Ling Yuefeng’s discouragement, and said while facing the green and gray elderly men. “Uncles, I can put aside this little junior bullying my Heavenly Sword Villa, yet now he actually dares to not place even Mighty Heavenly Sword Region in his eyes. In my whole life, Yufeng has never seen someone who dares to be this audacious towards Mighty Heavenly Sword Region… This is something that cannot be tolerated! Uncles, please take him down!”
“Elders!” Ling Yuefeng’s heart skipped a beat, as he hurriedly stepped forward and anxiously said, “Yun Che is young and hot-blooded, not to mention he is here to settle debts, so he was unable to control the weight in his words. I hope that Elders do not lower your esteemed selves to his level… Yun Che, my Heavenly Sword Villa will give the Blue Wind Imperial Family an explanation. These two great figures are after all still the Elders of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. They are the most distinguished guests in the history of my Heavenly Sword Villa, so I am unable to accommodate you. Please leave with haste.”
Yun Che did not move, but his eyes lightly glanced at Ling Yuefeng for a moment… Although he was selfish and ungrateful, he could still be considered as an upright person. At the very least, he deserved Cang Yue’s forgiveness!
“Husband, he has already come to bully and shame our villa, why do you still intend to protect him? And today, he actually dared to treat my Heavenly Sword Villa this way. If we let him leave like this, it will only grow even more severe in the future!” Xuanyuan Yufeng said loudly, “Fine! His life can be spared. Let’s have two fellow uncles cripple his entire profound strength. Let’s see if he can still act this arrogantly in the future.”
“Haah.” The green robed elder had instead raised his right arm, and shook his hand. His face still carried that chuckling expression, and did not have the slightest sign of being enraged by Yun Che’s words. “Yufeng, no need to be furious. We have long heard of Yun Che’s temper as well, no matter. Furthermore, Yun Che is one of the people whom the Venerable Sword Master wishes to see at the Devil Sword Conference the most. If things really go as you say, wouldn’t we have to be blamed by the Venerable Sword Master?”
Yun Che, “…?”
“The Venerable Sword Master… wishes to see him?” Xuanyuan Yufeng frowned, puzzled. Both Ling Yuefeng and Ling Tianni were similarly dumbfounded as well. Sword Master Xuanyuan Wentian… the master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. They had gone several times to Mighty Heavenly Sword Region in these recent years, yet never have they dared wish that they could meet him. However, he actually wanted to meet Yun Che himself!?
“Hoho. Not a single word spoken by your Thirteenth Uncle contains falsehood.” The gray robed elder spoke up. With a calm expression, he faced Yun Che. However, in the depths of his eyes, were a deep heaviness and fear which he was suppressing with all his might… Because, after all, he clearly knew that behind Yun Che was a teacher who possessed seemingly incomprehensible strength!
The reason why Yun Che dared to act this overbearing even in front of them, was because of that master named “Duotian.”
He believed that killing Yun Che was a simple feat, but when he recalled that Yun Che’s master had used a mere flicker of starfire to turn a Sun Moon Elder, who possessed strength comparable to his, into nothingness, how could he dare to truly make a move?
“Little friend Yun.” The gray robed elder said with a chuckle.” This old man is surnamed Mu, with the given name Yuanzhi, ranked among the Elders of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. Though Yufeng had married into Heavenly Sword Villa, she was born in our Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, and is still the sole daughter of Xuanyuan Jue, the Ninth Elder of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. I wonder just what kind of grudge little friend Yun has against Yufeng, that you actually have to target her so?”
Ling Yuefeng and Ling Tianni looked towards Yun Che as well… They similarly had no idea just what kind of conflict there was between Yun Che and Yufeng.
“Grudge?” Yun Che laughed solemnly. Ever since he saw Xuanyuan Yufeng, an air of hostility was madly tumbling within his chest. Earlier, when his move towards Xuanyuan Yufeng was obstructed by the two green and gray elders, it had also intensified this hostility. It seemingly wanted to burst apart within his chest. At this moment, he was already at the brink of losing control.
“Since you people want to know it that much, then I shall have her… answer herself!!”
When his last word fell, Yun Che’s body slightly blurred, as he suddenly charged towards Xuanyuan Yufeng who was guarded behind the two Sword Region Elders.
Rather than his speed, what was more terrifying was Yun Che’s explosive acceleration. From being stationary, he turned into a bolt of lightning in a mere instant.
The faces of the green and gray robed elders instantly changed. Though they were shocked, they were not flustered, as they speedily made their moves at the very first moment, grabbing towards Yun Che at the same time… Not only were those instantaneous reactions, the speeds of their movements were not the slightest bit slower than Yun Che’s speed.
After all, they were two powerful and peerless mid-stage Monarchs!
Fwoosh!!
The two Sword Region Elders’ hands caught onto Yun Che’s arm at the same time, but their five gripping fingers did not feel the slightest sense of physical contact. Instead, they caught onto empty air, causing a small spatial ripple from their grips. Along with the stirring of the spatial ripples, Yun Che’s figure disappeared.
What they grabbed hold of, were surprisingly, only afterimages!
“Ah!”
A hoarse scream sounded from behind, and the two people immediately turned around. Within their intensely contracted pupils, Yun Che’s figure resurfaced. He was already standing next to Xuanyuan Yufeng, and the palm of his right hand was unhesitantly locked onto her neck. His five fingers were held firmly tight, causing Xuanyuan Yufeng’s complexion to turn deathly pale in that short instant.
“Milady!”
“Yufeng!”
“You!!”
Ling Tianni and Ling Yuefeng turned pale from shock, as everything happened in an instant. The sound of Yun Che’s words had still yet to completely disperse from their ears. Forget about reacting, they did not even have the faintest clue how Yun Che got behind them. Furthermore, the faces of the two Sword Region Elders had turned as red as pig liver. They had once heard that Yun Che’s personality and actions could not be determined by logic, and he had never played by the rules. However, they never expected that his personality would be arrogant to such an extent. In front of the two of them, two Sword Region Elders, he unhesitantly made his move all of a sudden, without any warning whatsoever…
And when the two of them made their moves at the same time, they were actually unable to stop him… nor had they even touched the corner of his sleeves.
Just what kind of shocking speed and profound movement skill was this…? These thoughts rang in the hearts of the two Sword Region Elders at the same time.
“Yun Che… Let her go immediately!!” The green robed elder’s complexion sank.
“Yun Che, she’s the daughter of our Sword Region’s Ninth Elder, are you planning on becoming enemies with with our Mighty Heavenly Sword Region!?” Gray robed elder Mu Yuanzhi roared out. “Release her this instant! And you will still have the room to negotiate!”
“Like I care whose daughter she is! This is a feud between me and this vile woman, there’s no place for you two undead farts that came out of nowhere to point fingers!” The stance of these two Sword Region Elders was incomparably firm, while his stance was even firmer than theirs. “If you don’t wish to get into trouble, then get out of my sight immediately… The further the better!”
“…” The green robed elder’s chest rose, evidently, he was already brimming with anger. He had lived for nearly a millennium, but had never encountered such a situation. His gaze turned cold, and his voice grew even more solemn as well. “This old man is surnamed Xuanyuan, with the given name Jiuding, and is ranked thirteenth among the Sword Region Elders! Yufeng is this old man’s niece! This old man was been sufficiently courteous to you earlier. It would be wise to not step over my face! You can’t really possibly believe that… Our Mighty Heavenly Sword Region is a place you can offend!?”
Xuanyuan Jiuding… Xuanyuan?
Yun Che had heard from Zi Ji that the surname Xuanyuan was the bloodline of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region’s Sword Master; the most respected and revered bloodline in Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. And from the tone and actions of these two people earlier, it could also be seen that between the two of them, Xuanyuan Jiuding was evidently taking the lead.
His words had slightly stirred Yun Che’s heart… When that Mu Yuanzhi was facing him, he clearly carried very deep fear, evidently afraid of that imaginary teacher “Duotian” of his. However, this Xuanyuan Jiuding in particular did not carry these thoughts at all. Furthermore, the words he spoke seemed to carry a hint of ridicule?
“Yun Che, this old man must remind you!” Mu Yuanzhi spoke up with a solemn voice as well. “Our Mighty Heavenly Sword Region has reigned for ten thousand years, and there has never been a single person who dared to touch someone of the Xuanyuan bloodline! Though Yufeng has broken off from Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, the Xuanyuan bloodline still flows in her body! If you dare to touch her, the very first person who won’t forgive you, will be the Venerable Sword Master of our Mighty Heavenly Sword Region!”
“Oh? Is that so?” Yun Che’s face did not reveal the least bit of fear, and still carried that icy and dangerous smile.
“Uncles, don’t mind me… Just cripple him now!” Xuanyuan Yufeng, whose throat was locked onto by Yun Che, distorted her face, and let out a hoarse, frail voice. “Yun Che, if you have the guts… then kill me! By killing me… You will die with your corpse completely shredded into pieces… Everyone related to you won’t even have to think about continuing living in this world… Ha… Haha…”
“Heh, you’re actually still able to talk. Looks like my actions have really been too gentle, as expected.” Yun Che let out an icy laugh, and his five fingers fiercely tightened.
With a cracking sound, one of Xuanyuan Yufeng’s neck bones resoundingly broke. Her eyes instantly bulged, and her face was as white as paper, yet, she was not able to even let out a single scream.
“Stop… stop! Stop!” Ling Yuefeng roared out with an expression filled with pain. “Yun Che, just why must you act so vilely!? If you have anything that you aren’t happy with… Then lash it out all on me, Ling Yuefeng!”
“It seems, you really are completely unaware of this.” Yun Che coldly said. “This sure shows the bond of husband and wife of more than twenty years!”
“Very well… Yun Che. It seems like you refuse to yield, and want to play with force!!” Xuanyuan Jiuding’s robe rose upwards as his profound energy intensely stirred. Dozens of domineering sword waves began to dance around his body.
“Thirteenth Elder…” Seeing that Xuanyuan Jiuding actually had signs of making a forceful move, Mu Yuanzhi hurriedly stepped forward, wanting to persuade him with a low voice. After all, they could offend Yun Che, but that teacher behind his back was someone they definitely could not offend… Sun Moon Divine Hall had already paid a price of blood, and even now, they did not dare to seek the slightest bit of trouble with Yun Che.
Bang!
With a low explosive burst of air, Xuanyuan Jiuding’s body fiercely pounced forward… However, the direction he pounced towards was not where Yun Che was, but behind him!
The direction he leapt, was towards the girl that came along with Yun Che, who had not uttered a single word. Her white robe fluttered, and her aura was similar to that of a fairy.
He did not dare to rashly make a move against Yun Che, because from the rumors of Yun Che’s extreme personality, even if he knew that Xuanyuan Yufeng belonged to the Xuanyuan bloodline, he would still not be hesitant of doing matters such as directly striking her to death.
He did not know this girl’s status or facial features, and from her attire, she could possibly be a certain disciple or Frozen Fairy from Frozen Cloud Asgard. However, since she accompanied him here, her relationship with him must definitely be beyond ordinary as well. By bringing her down, he should be able to force Yun Che into submission!
Chapter 759 - Embarrassing Beyond Belief
Before Yun Che made the move to capture Xuanyuan Yufeng, he had already sound transmitted to Feng Xue’er to be careful. Facing Xuanyuan Jiuding’s sudden attack, Feng Xue’er wasn’t the least bit startled as she slightly raised her snowy hand. With a soft swish of her white sleeve, a scarlet red flame arrow condensed before her, shooting at Xuanyuan Jiuding at a considerably slow speed.
Even a profound practitioner in the Earth Profound Realm would scoff at an inferior scarlet profound flame, so Xuanyuan Jiuding directly ignored it and grabbed at Feng Xue’er’s neck… However, in the next instant his complexion changed, because what came at him was actually a scorching, oppressive power that suffocated him immediately.
Amidst his great shock, Xuanyuan Jiuding didn’t hesitate to push out both hands. His profound strength also rapidly increased by several fold as his profound energy surged, causing his two gray colored sleeves to flutter upwards.
Bang!!!
When the two bursts of Monarch level profound energy collided, a tremendous ripple of energy spread outwards, to the surroundings. Even though Ling Yuefeng and Ling Tianni were more than three hundred meters away, they were still fiercely blasted far away by this energy ripple. Only after they were a few kilometers away did they stop, with all the energy and blood in their bodies churning, and nearly spitting out blood.
Feng Xue’er’s flame arrow stilled in front of Xuanyuan Jiuding… but it merely stilled, and wasn’t dispersed by Xuanyuan Jiuding’s power. Not even the slightest hint of weakening could be found. This scene caused Xuanyuan Jiuding’s pupils to shrink; he didn’t dare to believe his eyes at all. He suddenly gritted his teeth as the profound energy in his body surged once more. This time, he didn’t hesitate to push his full strength forward.
With a dull smothering sound, the scarlet flame arrow was immediately knocked a few meters back. Behind her white gauze veil, Feng Xue’er’s bright eyes flashed as her long sleeves swept again, her fine white jade-like hands lightly pushing forward.
The flames on the Phoenix Arrow instantly rose sharply and its power explosively increased by several fold. Though the blaze was not that big, it turned the entire sky a scarlet color.
Xuanyuan Jiuding’s already shrunken pupils contracted even further as he uttered a dull shout. He was unable to believe that the power from earlier was not even the other party’s limit… Furthermore, in the blink of an eye, with merely a casual movement, the power had nearly doubled!
Beneath the Phoenix Arrow’s explosive increase in strength, his body was forced to withdraw several steps. Clenching his teeth, he gathered all of his profound energy into his two arms, causing his arms to double in width. He desperately struck out, but to no avail. Moreover, an increasingly terrifying sensation of burning began to raid his entire body, causing him to feel as if he were walking step by step towards a purgatory of fire which would completely incinerate him.
Whoosh!!
Xuanyuan Jiuding’s two long sleeves began to blaze fiercely, and his expression became increasingly agonized… under the flame’s flickering light, one could see that his hands hadn’t turned a scarlet color, but had instead become a striking coal black.
“Th-Thirteenth Elder!” Mu Yuanzhi screamed in shock. Other than Yun Che, everyone else who saw this all stared blankly ahead in shock as if they had entered a dream. Xuanyuan Jiuding was the thirteenth elder of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, and was one of the most powerful people within entire Profound Sky Continent! In order to force Yun Che to submit, he had despicably attacked a little girl who was a disciple of Frozen Cloud Asgard. Moreover, it had been a surprise attack. Something which should have been easily obtained… had ended up not being obtained. Instead, he had been forced away in one blow by his opponent’s counterattack, which had caused him to fall to a disadvantage in the blink of an eye.
Xuanyuan Jiuding’s profound strength had reached the sixth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm… In the eyes of Ling Yuefeng, Ling Tianni and the rest, his existence was like that of a god.
“Yuanzhi… help me!!” Xuanyuan Jiuding roared, his voice trembling from pain… he could already clearly smell the scent of his own burning flesh exuding off his body.
As if he had suddenly woken up from a dream, the energy atop Mu Yuanzhi’s body exploded as the longsword on his back flew out of its sheathe and landed into his hand. He then stabbed out… his stab was not directed towards Feng Xue’er, but towards the scarlet flames suppressing Xuanyuan Jiuding. In just this short period of time, Xuanyuan Jiuding’s body had already become extremely burned. If Mu Yuanzhi didn’t first help Xuanyuan Jiuding get rid of the flames, it was possible that Xuanyuan Jiuding’s hands would become wasted.
Earlier, all of their focus had been on Yun Che. Although Yun Che’s profound energy aura was surprisingly low, they didn’t dare be careless. After all, each new rumor about Yun Che was even more shocking than the previous one.
However, not even in their dreams had they thought that the little girl who came with him would actually be so terrifying! She was clearly even more terrifying than Yun Che!!
As Yun Che watched Mu Yuanzhi rush towards Feng Xue’er, his face didn’t show even the slightest bit of worry. Although these two Sword Region Elders were quite strong, it was all too easy for Feng Xue’er to defeat them at her level of profound strength. Instead, he took advantage of the time while everyone was distracted. A blue light flashed atop his left arm as his Profound Handle instantly pierced into Xuanyuan Yufeng’s mind.
The blade of Mu Yuanzhi’s sword was pitch-black. As he stabbed out with it, wave-like fluctuations began to emanate from around his body.
Clang!!
The tip of the sword stabbed into the tip of the Phoenix Arrow. At that moment, the exploding sword intent agitated the nearby space, causing it to screech as it was torn apart. Immediately, the aura of the scarlet flames was significantly reduced, finally reliving some of the pressure on Xuanyuan Jiuding. Ignoring the pain of his entire body, he fiercely raised his energy as the sword on his back flew into his hand… similar to Mu Yuanzhi’s sword, his was also pitch-black and plain. However, it surged with a kind of extraordinary power and prestige.
“Heaven’s Might Sword Formation… Star Piercer!”
Riip!!
Space was torn apart like cloth as a several meter long tear appeared. Just the surging sword intent and immense force from this one sword caused the distantly observing Ling Tianni and Ling Yuefeng to feel as if they were witnessing the domain of a sword god.
The two swords of the Sword Region Elders slashed down, forcefully diverting the Phoenix Arrow. Even the powerful flames were were slightly weakened. Xuanyuan Jiuding and Mu Yuanzhi simultaneously gritted their teeth as they fully released their profound energy and sword intent. They no longer dared to be even the slightest bit neglectful. Although they had finally acquired the upper hand, they didn’t feel even the slightest bit of relief in their minds… they were two dignified Sword Region Elders, yet they actually had to work together to deal with a little girl…
To them, this was something that they had never conceived of and was a humiliation they could not accept.
However, at this moment, even they had both released their full powers, it didn’t mean that Feng Xue’er had as well.
As Feng Xue’er raised her arm for the third time, her snow white sleeves gently fluttering, the golden phoenix mark between her brows faintly flashed… amidst the silence, the sound of a phoenix resonated out. However, no one knew where it came from.
The flames atop the Phoenix Arrow exploded once more as it transformed from an arrow to a phoenix in the blink of an eye. The scarlet radiance and scorching heat which seemingly came from the bottom of purgatory, easily pierced through the sword formation of the two Sword Region Elders and ruthlessly enveloped their bodies.
“Aghhhh!”
Xuanyuan Jiuding and Mu Yuanzhi’s expressions changed yet again as agonized moans simultaneously emerged from both of their mouths. Clenching their teeth to the point of almost shattering them, the two growled low as what could be considered as the highest level of sword intent and force on the Profound Sky Continent wildly surged out, trying to smash the flames to pieces. However, even after putting their lives on the line and exhausting all of their energy, they were still unable to disperse the scarlet flames. Instead, their swords were quickly devoured. Even the sword formation they had pierced out was suppressed and rapidly collapsed.
The two originally pitch-black longswords began to quickly turn red as if they were pieces of ordinary iron. However, for these swords to be the partners of Sword Region Elders, how could they possibly be ordinary swords? For the two swords to burn and turn red, the temperature must have reached an unthinkable point.
Strands of black smoke began to emerge from Xuanyuan Jiuding and Mu Yuanzhi’s palms as clusters of fire planted themselves onto their bodies and hair. The two desperately tried to suppress them, but quickly, more and more of them sprang up… at this time, the two felt as if they had been placed over the fires of purgatory and left to burn. The pain was so great that they wished they were dead, but they were unable to retreat… because the flames in front of them were just too terrifying. As soon as they even slightly eased up and took half a step back, the flames in front of their eyes would immediately surge forward and completely devour them.
“Miss… mercy… please…” Xuanyuan Jiuding’s beard had already began to burn, and his entire body now looked like a heated piece of iron which had turned red. Having been forced into this position, he no longer cared about his dignity as a Sword Region Elder and issued a painful plea to Feng Xue’er.
Feng Xue’er didn’t retract the flames, but instead looked towards Yun Che, only to discover Yun Che’s ashen face and terrifyingly overcast eyes.
Tragic cries began to echo over from afar. Several corners of Heavenly Sword Villa had began to blaze as a large number of Heavenly Sword disciples began to roll on the ground in agony… although the phoenix flame summoned by Feng Xue’er was several hundred meters in the air, she was still a Monarch… even though it was only residual power, as phoenix flame created by a Monarch level practitioner, just how could Heavenly Sword Villa withstand it?
The strange state of Heavenly Sword Villa caused Feng Xue’er’s red lips to part as her heart fell into chaos. She quickly lifted her jade arm, causing her long sleeve to sway. Immediately, the direction of the Phoenix Arrow changed as it began to fly towards the west of the Heavenly Sword Mountain Range accompanied by trails of smoke and phoenix cries.
Boom!!!
The Phoenix Arrow descended atop the peak of a tall mountain at the edge of the range. Amidst the dull sound of an explosion, the entire mountain peak suddenly combusted. The blaze quickly descended the mountain at a terrifyingly rapid pace, then disappeared… as it turned the mountain into patch after patch of roiling lava.
The extremely high temperature enveloping Heavenly Sword Villa quickly disappeared. As the elders and disciples of Heavenly Sword Villa stared blankly at the flames in the west, which seemed as if they were going to breach the heavens, their souls violently quivered.
Towards the people of Heavenly Sword Villa, Feng Xue’er’s level was just too fantastical.
Xuanyuan Jiuding and Mu Yuanzhi were finally able to escape from their nightmare. The instant the phoenix flames flew away, they backed away while crying like wolves which had been scared out of their wits. Even their swords, which generally never left their bodies, had fallen from their hands and landed on the dirt below them. They crazily took deep breaths as they circulated profound energy to suppress the burns all over their body.
The hands which they gripped their swords with had all been scorched black. This was especially evident on Xuanyuan Jiuding’s right hand, where his palm had been directly incinerated, exposing mostly charred bones. The robe covering his body had long since entered a disastrous state, and his hair and beard had all been burnt to a crisp. He looked unbelievably miserable.
The two of them had never been this tragic in their lives.
“Phoenix flames! You… Who exactly are you!?” While holding in the intense pain inflicted all over his body, Xuanyuan Jiuding shouted with an obvious tremble in his voice. He considered himself rather well learned regarding the Divine Phoenix Sect, and he had even dueled against Feng Tianwei himself before… The grand sect master of the Divine Phoenix Sect was just on par with him.
However, the aura of this girl was just too young… how could she have such terrifying profound energy!? Just when had the Divine Phoenix Sect given birth to such a monstrous person!?
He was just finished when he suddenly recalled a certain rumor about the Divine Phoenix Sect from three months ago. His pupils shrank, and he cried out in shock, “You’re… Princess Snow of the Divine Phoenix Sect!?”
“What?” Mu Yanzhi abruptly turned his head in great shock.
Everyone on the Profound Sky Continent knew about the news when Yun Che devastated the Divine Phoenix Sect three months ago. At the time, the Four Great Sacred Grounds had also heard that the person who ultimately ended the devastation was Princess Snow. Moreover, Princess Snow went into a slumber for three years seemed to have experienced a massive increase in profound strength. She had also accompanied Yun Che back to Blue Wind Nation.
To have been able to force the two of them into joining hands, her cultivation was at least a small realm above theirs!
This was to say, her cultivation had to at least be at the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm!!
Moreover, for one at the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, no matter which Scared Ground they’re in, it was enough to enter the top ten ranks!!
The girl had used phoenix flames, and was beside Yun Che. Furthermore, the burning power of her phoenix flames had been so terrifying… she could only be Princess Snow! However, although they had heard that Princess Snow’s cultivation had greatly improved, they had never imagined that it would have soared to such a level.
Princess Snow should only be nineteen years old this year…
A nineteen year old level eight Monarch!!
Xuanyuan Jiuding and Mu Yanzhi both sucked in a harsh, cold breath at the same time… Even if they were to declare this with their statuses as elders of the Sword Region, almost no one would have believed them.
In the distance, Ling Tianni and Ling Yuefeng, who had been sent flying by the waves of energy, stood where they were like wooden statues… Xuanyuan Jiuding and Mu Yuanzhi, these two figures who were like gods in their eyes, had actually suffered such an embarrassing defeat at the hands of a little girl. Their shock was something which could not be conveyed with words… they had even forgotten that the life and death of Xuanyuan Yufeng was currently in Yun Che’s hands.
Feng Xue’er didn’t reply as her snow white figure slightly shook and her figure moved to Yun Che’s side. She worriedly looked at his gloomy face and said, “Big Brother Yun, what’s wrong? You look so scary.”
“…” Yun Che’s grip on Xuanyuan Yufeng tightened unconsciously. While Xuanyuan Jiuding and Mu Yanzhi were suppressed by Feng Xue’er just now, he had seized the opportunity to invade Xuanyuan Yufeng’s mind and scour a portion of her memories with his profound handle… After all, he had only heard them from Zi Ji and could not be sure that they were completely true. Perhaps he had accused Xuanyuan Yufeng wrongly.
Subconsciously, he even hoped for a bit that he had wronged Xuanyuan Yufeng. After all, she was Ling Jie’s biological mother.
However, the scan results of the profound handle left him absolutely furious.
Chapter 760 - Goodbye, Ling Jie
“Yun Che, let go of my mother!!”
Amidst a loud roar, a young man, fully in white, arrived from far off in the air. With the Celestial Yuan Sword in hand, his whole body was raging with sword intent as he charged at his fastest speed towards Yun Che, who had seized Xuanyuan Yufeng.
“Ling Yun?” Yun Che’s eyes slanted, and he immediately saw the person following closely behind Ling Yun… He looked a little younger than Ling Yun, but his figure was already similar to Ling Yun. The face that was once filled with innocence and brashness was now more stern with determination after maturity.
“Little Jie…” Yun Che said in a low voice, and the expression in his eyes suddenly become extremely complicated. The person that he didn’t want to see most on this trip to Heavenly Sword Villa was Ling Jie.
It had been several years since they had met and Ling Yun’s profound strength had increased rapidly, already reaching the Sky Profound Realm. As for Ling Jie, because he was beloved by Xuanyuan Jue, under the personal tutelage of Xuanyuan Jue, his strength advanced at a tremendous pace. Yun Che was able to tell immediately that not only had Ling Jie entered the Sky Profound Realm, his strength was actually almost the same as Ling Yun. He would be able soon be able to completely surpass Ling Yun.
“Yun’er, Jie’er, don’t go over there!!” Ling Yuefeng reached out and yelled. Previously at the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament, Ling Yun and Yun Che were still opponents at the same plane. But now, even if it were ten thousand Ling Yuns, if he dared to offend Yun Che, he would just be courting death.
Ling Yun pretended like he didn’t hear the warning as a one and a half meter long sword beam swept out from his Celestial Yuan Sword, ruthlessly piercing toward Yun Che. He and Ling Jie were originally practicing the sword in the back mountain. When they heard the news that distinguished guests had arrived from Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, they rushed back to the villa at their fastest speed. There were extremely unusual air waves and sounds on the whole way back, and once they returned to the villa, they saw the scene of Xuanyuan Yufeng being held hostage by Yun Che.
Ling Yun was furious, but Ling Jie’s emotions were a lot more complicated than Ling Yun. Since he found out that Yun Che was still alive, he was wild with joy. It was unknown just how many times he couldn’t help but want to go see Yun Che. He had at last seen him today, but it was actually under a situation like this… it made his whole brain go into chaos. He was following behind Ling Yun, but his speed was slower and slower. He was drowning in shock, confusion, fright, and panic, and didn’t know what to do.
Facing the approaching Ling Yun, Yun Che held out his other hand towards him… This movement made Ling Yuefeng turn pale from fright as he yelled madly, “Yun Che… stop!”
Bang!!
Before Ling Yuefeng could finish, Yun Che had already extended his palm. At that moment, the air waves within the space of three hundred meters were pushed severely as they hit Ling Yun and Ling Jie. It made them lose their balance immediately, causing them to spin a couple circles in the air before they landed on the ground.
Watching Ling Yun and Ling Jie stand up immediately after falling onto the ground without a single injury, without even their auras weakening, Ling Yuefeng’s whole body immediately relaxed as it felt drained. Breaking out in cold sweat, he asked in a trembling voice, “Yun Che, what do you want… what did my wife do wrong!?”
“Big… Big Brother Yun. What… exactly happened? What happened?” Ling Jie’s face was covered in shock and confusion. He also used a completely different title to call Yun Che. He couldn’t even dare to believe that the Yun Che before him was really Yun Che.
Yun Che ignored Ling Jie and also directly ignored the currently recuperating Xuanyuan Jiuding and Mu Yuanzhi. He stared straight at Ling Yuefeng and said darkly, “Back then, Chu Yuechan’s pregnancy was discovered in your Heavenly Sword Villa by someone called Grandmother Jiumu. At that time, other than Chu Yuechan, Grandmother Jiumu, Chu Yueli and you, there was no one else present… Then, in the span of a few days after Chu Yuechan returned to Frozen Cloud Asgard from your Heavenly Sword Villa, how did rumors spread throughout the whole world? Ling Yuefeng, even if you were ten times dumber, you must know the consequences that she would suffer if this matter were to be spread. Did you attempt to lockdown the information!?”
Yun Che’s words caused Ling Yuefeng’s heart to skip a beat as he frantically replied, “Regarding this matter, I obviously knew the severity of it. We naturally do not need to question Fairy Yueli, Grandmother Jiumu has also practiced medicine for a hundred years and definitely wouldn’t spread anything. I have always been wondering how exactly this matter spread as well…”
“Wonder!?” Yun Che’s eyes suddenly turned cold as he glared daggers at Ling Yuefeng’s heart, causing the latter’s voice and breathing to instantly freeze, “Ling Yuefeng, you have always been known as the gentleman of the sword to others, but the current fake appearance you’re trying so hard to put on really doesn’t suit you at all! Were the ones who knew about that matter back then only those four I mentioned!? Did you really not run into a person who just happened to hear about it that day!? Don’t tell me that, in your heart, you really don’t know the one who spread this news and did their best to fan the fire all the way, until everyone in the world knew about it!?”
“…” Ling Yuefen’s lips shook and he remained speechless for a long time. He had known all along that it was done by Xuanyuan Yufeng, because aside from her, there couldn’t have been any other person. However, he had never asked Xuanyuan Yufeng about this, nor did he look into it to confirm his suspicions. He didn’t even mention it at all. The majority of his heart had died upon knowing that Chu Yuechan was pregnant by someone else. When it had come out, even though he was furious at Xuanyuan Yufeng for having done that, he could not worsen their marital relationship further. Instead he had tried his best to mend it… her father was, after all, an Elder of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region.
After the incident, he received news that when Chu Yuechan returned to Frozen Cloud Asgard, she had crippled her profound art and was expelled. Nothing further was heard after that. At that time, Frozen Cloud Asgard had also closed its doors.
With Chu Yuechan’s status in Frozen Cloud Asgard, she definitely wouldn’t have been expelled even if she had violated a rule of the sect. It was clear to him that this only happened because the news spread to the entire world and gave Frozen Cloud Asgard pressure that they hadn’t received in a thousand years.
“Right… I was the one who did it!” Xuanyuan Yufeng cried out when Ling Yuefeng was speechless. A twisted smile was even revealed on her face as she stated, “That slut… made her own scandal! Don’t tell me that you think she is qualified for everyone to seal their lips for her!? As for the consequences of everyone knowing about it, that’s the shameful scandal you and she caused, what does that have to do with me? Hahahaha…”
Yun Che slightly narrowed his eyes as he said in a low, unhurried voice, “She and I love each other very much. The child she had with me was a gift bestowed from the heavens, how is it shameful!? The word slut that came out from your mouth doesn’t make me the least bit angry, it would only make others laugh. In your heart, I’m sure you know very clearly that the word slut can never be placed on Chu Yuechan even in a hundred lifetimes! As for you, even ten thousand lifetimes wouldn’t be enough!
“You…”
Yun Che’s hand tightened, constricting Xuanyuan Yufeng’s voice. Then, he said slowly, “Xuanyuan Yufeng, you should’ve been thankful about me and Chu Yuechan being together. In fact, I don’t even think that being thankful for your entire life would be enough. Because you should know this clearer than anyone; if it wasn’t for the fact that my Chu Yuechan never paid any attention to Ling Yuefeng, forget about being the villa master’s wife, Ling Yuefeng probably wouldn’t even have spared you a glance! In terms of looks, temperament, cultivation, and mentality, the difference between you and Chu Yuechan is like the mud on the ground against a snow lotus on a heavenly mountain! Yet you, just because of your own jealousy, actively schemed to push her toward a dead end… I, Yun Che, rarely kill women, but you, Xuanyuan Yufeng, have succeeded in making me want to tear you into ten thousand pieces!!!”
“Yun Che!!” That freezing killing intent made Ling Yuefeng, who was more than three hundred meters away, feel as though he had fallen into an ice cave. He shouted hurriedly, “About the Fairy of Frozen Beauty, my wife has truly done a huge wrong. However, women are naturally prone to jealousy, and the jealousy she has for the Fairy of Frozen Beauty was caused by me, Ling Yuefeng. Everything done was all because of me, Ling Yuefeng! And it is not just that…” Ling Yuefeng sucked in a deep breath as he slightly gritted his teeth, “Even if my wife is wrong, it is merely because she spread news of a fact under a fit of jealousy. She didn’t maliciously spread false information, so her sins simply aren’t worthy of death… Please have mercy and let go of my wife. I, Ling Yufeng will undertake all the responsibilities of this sin and I won’t complain at all.”
“Ah, a sin not worthy of death?” Yun Che glanced at him from the corner of his eye as his expression became even more dark and cold. “Looks like you really have no idea, huh… Back then, when Chu Yuechan stripped her profound arts and left Frozen Cloud Asgard, before she even had the chance to leave the Snow Region of Extreme Ice, she had encountered the pursuit of three people who had been waiting a long time to kill her. Those three people were all members of your Heavenly Sword Villa. You tell me if that it is not a sin worthy of death!?”
“Wh… what!?” Yun Che’s words made Ling Yuefeng abruptly raise his head as his eyes enlarged. Ling Jie, who was down below, also stiffened from head to toe, not daring to believe what he had heard.
“Im… Impossible! Impossible! My wife never would have done such a thing. No one from my Heavenly Sword Villa would do such a malicious thing; absolutely impossible! Absolutely impossible! This must be a huge misunderstanding…” Ling Yuefeng violently shook his head and roared, but his later actions and voice unwittingly slowed because he suddenly recalled that back then, on the night Frozen Cloud Asgard left the villa, Xuanyuan Yufeng had personally dispatched three Heavenly Sword Elders to send Ling Kun a distance off. At that time, he was puzzled. With Ling Kun’s strength, he simply didn’t need any protection at all, nor would he get lost. However, before Ling Kun, he obviously was unable to refuse or question that action. After that, he didn’t think about it that much either.
Could it be…
“Impossible? A huge misunderstanding? Hahahaha…” Yun Che laughed tauntingly, “Xuanyuan Yufeng, since you have the guts to do it, do you have the guts to admit it!?”
“Why wouldn’t I have the guts to admit!? Xuanyuan Yufeng screeched, her hideously pale face didn’t even have much fear at all. Relying on her status of a Sword Region Elder’s daughter, she was still confident that Yun Che definitely didn’t have the guts to kill her. Not only was she not extremely scared, her voice and appearance were still as arrogant and as haughty as before. “I just hate that those three trash didn’t do their job properly and had instead let the slut escape… Mngh!”
Under Yun Che’s fiercely tightened grip, Xuanyuan Yufeng’s entire throat had completely twisted and her eyes were protruding out. She was no longer able to shout out a single word.
Xuanyuan Yufeng’s confession instantly shattered the illusion which Ling Yuefeng was desperately clinging onto, as the scenery in front of him began to twist and turn. “Yufeng, you… how could you do… such a thing…”
“This isn’t true… This definitely can’t be true…” Ling Jie collapsed weakly onto the ground, as he soullessly muttered to himself.
“Heh, since you have already admitted it… Very well, you can die peacefully now!” The cold sneer and overcast expression on Yun Che’s face disappeared, turning into an indifferent look, completely devoid of feelings. Within the space, a bone-piercing, heart-crippling killing intent stirred.
This killing intent shocked Mu Yuanzhi and Xuanyuan Jiuding greatly. Mu Yuanzhi no longer cared about his injuries, as he stepped forward and roared out. “Yun Che! She is Ninth Elder Xuanyuan Jue’s…”
“Shut up!” Yun Che turned his head, that terrifying gaze of his fiercely shook Mu Yuanzhi’s very core. “I don’t care who she is, and I don’t care who you are… Whoever dares to stop me from killing her today, I will kill every single one of them!! Mu Yuanzhi, Fifteen Elder of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region… Heh, I seem to recall that elder of Sun Moon Divine Hall who died in front of my eyes three months ago was also ranked fifteenth, are you that anxious to have me send you to the palace of hell today to be his companion!?”
A chill crept up Mu Yuanzhi’s entire body, while his figure actually took a step back. Enveloping him were a chilling intent and killing intent which could even send fear to a mid-stage Monarch like him. If the exact same words were spoken by anyone else, he would have just loudly laughed it off, but the person in front of him, was Yun Che… A maniac who had killed two great Monarchs of the Divine Phoenix Empire, and had even almost destroyed Phoenix City single-handedly!
Yun Che might perhaps not be able to kill him with his abilities alone, but it was definitely possible for Princess Snow who was next to him!
Next to him, Xuanyuan Jiuding had reached out his hand to firmly grasp onto his arm. Using his eyes, he signaled him not to anger Yun Che… Feng Xue’er, who was next to Yun Che, possessed the ability to forever have them stay where they are, so in this present situation, even if they had to stand by and idly watch Xuanyuan Yufeng die, it was definitely inappropriate for them to threaten or anger Yun Che.
“No… Don’t.”
Bitterness was carried within his trembling, pleading voice. Below, Ling Jie was already kneeling on the ground, the Celestial Yuan Sword which he treated as part of his own being was already unsheathed. He raised his head upwards to the sky where Yun Che was, his face was filled tears. “Big Brother Yun, my mother definitely isn’t a bad person with a venomous heart, she had merely… acted out of impulse… really… Big Brother Yun, I beg you to show mercy to my mother, allow me to shoulder my mother’s sins. Big Brother Yun, please fulfill my request.”
As his voice fell, the Celestial Yang Sword drew a ray of cold light, as it suddenly pierced towards Ling Jie’s throat.
Ling Yuefeng and Ling Tianni exclaimed loudly, as they madly charged towards Ling Jie. Xuanyuan Yufeng’s pupils had even contracted greatly. The final tint of redness on her face had completely faded out of shock and fear, as it turned completely pale…
Clang!!
A ray of fiery light surged into the skies, instantly blasting his Celestial Yang Sword far away. At the same time, Xuanyuan Yufeng was thrown downwards from the sky by Yun Che, smashing right onto Ling Jie’s body.
“Mo… Mother!”
“Yufeng!!!”
Ling Jie and Ling Yun frantically grabbed onto Xuanyuan Yufeng’s hand and despite their agitation, they still could not believe what they had just seen. Ling Tianni and Ling Yuefeng also rushed over and surrounded the three of them.
“Xuanyuan Yufeng…” Yun Che, who was in the air was already, had his back facing them and his expression could no longer be seen. His voice however remained ice cold and filled with deep hatred, “ From today onwards, you had better desperately pray that both mother and child are safe, otherwise…”
Chapter 761 - Fateful Turning Point
“Xue’er, let’s go.”
Yun Che didn’t continue his sentence. He couldn’t. He did not spare a glance for single person as he pulled Feng Xue’er’s hand and flew off into the distance without turning back.
He had overwhelmed them with killing intent that sent shock and fear rippling down their spines a moment ago, but then abruptly released Xuanyuan Yufeng and departed with his head bowed low. This turn of events was something that left Xuanyuan Jiuding and Mu Yuanzhi dazed for a good while.
“This Yun Che is even harder to deal with than the rumors said.” Yun Che’s departure caused Mu Yuan to feel an astonishingly huge sense of relief overtake him. This was the first time in his life that a youngster made him feel this way. He immediately added a few words to his sentence, “He has a terrifyingly strong master to support him after all, so he does have the backing to be this forceful and cocky.”
“Master? Heh.” Xuanyuan Jiuding gave a faint smile. “Don’t worry. He won’t be able to prance around much longer. There will naturally come a day where he will pay for all that he’s done!”
“Oh?” Mu Yuan looked at Xuanyuan Jiuding with an astonished expression. “Thirteenth Elder, your words…”
“Don’t ask any further. When the time comes, all will be made clear to you,” Xuanyuan Jiuding said, his lips peeling back as a strange smile stretched across his face.
————————————
Once they left the vicinity of the Heavenly Sword Mountain Range, Yun Che’s speed slowed down a bit. His brows knit together tightly as he silently pondered about something.
Feng Xue’er could tell that Yun Che’s current mood was very heavy and she tried to console him in a soft voice, “Big Brother Yun, don’t be too worried. Chu Yuechan and her child are definitely safe and sound. They must be in some safe haven waiting for Big Brother Yun to find them.”
“…” Yun Che exhaled lightly and a faint smile appeared on his face. “You’re right. They’re definitely okay. I have firmly believed that all this time.”
“It’s just that, I only found just out today that Heavenly Sword Villa tried to kill her after she left Frozen Cloud Asgard all those years ago.” Yun Che’s fists were tightly clenched. Since Xuanyuan Yufeng was Ling Jie’s mother, he was unable to bring himself to kill her…. Otherwise, he would not even have taken the fact that she was some daughter of some Sword Region Elder into consideration. Even if she were the Queen Mother of the Heavens, he would still slaughter her in rage.
“I wonder… how she managed to escape then?” Feng Xue’er knew that since Xuanyuan Yufeng had schemed about how to kill Chu Yuechan day and night, the three people that she had sent to do the deed would definitely have the ability to fulfill their end of the bargain… Therefore, the situation that Chu Yuechan faced at that time had to have been quite desperate.
Yun Che replied softly, “The real reason why Xuanyuan Yufeng spread the news of the Little Fairy’s pregnancy to the whole world all those years ago was so that she would have a chance to kill her. She was certain that, upon returning to Frozen Cloud Asgard, there was a high chance that Little Fairy would be expelled from the sect. Just to prepare for this possibility, she hid a force of ambushers within the Snow Region of Extreme Ice far in advance… Little Fairy would not have been the match for the three people that she dispatched even if she were at the peak of her powers. Furthermore, Little Fairy was pregnant, her profound aura was weak and fluctuating, and she had just crippled her own profound arts. The moment she appeared, she must have sustained heavy injuries… It just so happened that the Snow Region of Extreme Ice had fortunately been struck by a blizzard that day, and there was also a Snow Phoenix Beast in the vicinity. While stuck in the blizzard, the speed, the profound energy circulation, and the vision of ordinary profound practitioners would be greatly reduced. For the Snow Phoenix Beast, however, it just so happens to be the opposite, so Little Fairy borrowed the power of the Snow Phoenix Beast to make a narrow escape under the cover of the snowstorm…”
If not, the results would have been too ghastly to think about.
The only problem was, Yun Che was completely unaware of what happened after that… where she had fled, whether her injuries had been healed, and whether the child in her belly had been harmed… he did not know a single thing. He was unable to even imagine the circumstances she faced at that time. Every time he thought about it, it caused his heart to bleed.
At that time, she was probably all by herself and extremely helpless….
“My royal father once said that good fortune will definitely come in the wake of calamity. If she could avert disaster despite the perilous situation she was in, then it definitely means that even the heavens could not bear to see her harmed and has been protecting her all this time,” Feng Xue’er said in a soft, graceful voice as she tried to comfort him.
“Yes. After hearing Xue’er’s words, I feel much better already,” Yun Che said as he smiled. However, his face soon began to sink once more….
From Xuanyuan Yufeng’s memories, he had also discovered… that she had some sort of relation to the calamity that had struck Frozen Cloud Asgard.
To put it plainly, the relation was that Ling Kun!!
“Big Brother Yun… Big Brother Yun!!”
An anxious cry rang out from behind them. It was Ling Jie’s voice. Yun Che’s expression grew complex as he hesitated for an instant before gradually coming to a stop.
Ling Jie had expended all of his energy chasing them. After much difficulty, he finally caught up and was already so tired that he was gasping for breath. Yun Che turned around and spoke as he looked straight at him, “Little Jie, do you desperately desire to kill me with one stroke of your sword?”
Ling Jie shook his head vigorously as he replied, “No… why would I… I… I have actually come here to thank you.”
“Thank me?” Yun Che gave a bland smile. “Why would you want to thank me? I just turned your Heavenly Sword Villa on its head several times over, fiercely rebuked both your father and grandfather, and I nearly killed your mother. It is good enough that you don’t want to kill me… but instead you want to thank me?”
Ling Jie shook his head yet again. This shake of his head was even more vigorous than the last. He stared straight into Yun Che’s eyes and spoke in a sincere tone, “I know that you let my mother go for my sake… All those years ago, just for the act of kidnapping your family, the Burning Heaven Clan was exterminated down to the last man. Just a few months ago, it is rumored that you killed quite a few princes of Divine Phoenix Nation… and despite my mother doing something that was far more heinous than anything the Burning Heaven Clan did, you still… it was clear that you were extremely angry, but you still let her go. I really have to thank you. Your forgiveness and mercy is something that I will remember for the rest of my life…. The mistake that my mother has made, I… I will definitely do all that I can to make up for it.”
“…” Yun Che silently observed Ling Jie and looked at him for a long time… They had not met for three years and Ling Jie’s aura, figure, and appearance had undergone great changes, but his eyes were still as clear as water. His spirit was slightly moved by this and he extended a hand to lightly pat Ling Jie on the shoulder. “Little Jie, you do not need to thank me, and you definitely shouldn’t mention whatever ‘debt’ you owe me ever again… or could it be that you’ve forgotten that we’re good brothers?”
Ling Jie’s eyes lit up. They gradually began to sparkle as he replied, “I… I… Can I still call you ‘Boss’ like I did in the past?”
“What nonsense are you saying? Of course you can!” Yun Che vigorously shook his shoulder as he replied, “Don’t forget that you became my little brother because you lost to me all those years ago! Are you telling me that you’re now trying to weasel your way out of it?”
“No… of course not!” Ling Jie’s eyes were moist and he took in a large breath of air, struggling against the tears that threatened to leak from his eyes. “Boss, I just knew that you wouldn’t die so easily… I’ve finally, finally gotten to see you again! Furthermore, you’ve become so… so powerful. It is truly my, Ling Jie’s, greatest fortune in life to have been able to meet you.”
Yun Che could clearly hear the joy in Ling Jie’s voice as it quivered with emotion. It reached his heart as well.
“No, the fortunate one is me,” Yun Che said sincerely. “Little Jie, did you know that, when I first met you six years ago, there was a reason why I took the initiative to suggest that we compete with three strikes, and that whoever lost had to be the little brother of the other… At the time, I only wanted to use your status as the young master of Heavenly Sword Villa, so that it would be more convenient for me to make moves in the future… Yet, after that, you braved danger for my sake by coming to the Burning Heaven Clan by yourself. You used your very life to block his sword just so you could stop your grandfather from killing me. Just so you could cheer me on, you travelled to Divine Phoenix Nation by yourself for five thousand kilometers … I really don’t know how it is possible for me to have received such sincere and ardent devotion.”
“Hehe…” Ling Jie was moved once more, so he laughed in embarrassment before replying, “I am your little brother after all. It’s only proper that I do some things for my boss. Furthermore, to be able to follow in your footsteps is something that is… very special to me, a pride that cannot be replaced by anything else.”
“Hahahaha….” Yun Che laughed as he said, “Little Jie, because of what you just said, I must definitely become someone who can make the entire world tremble. I definitely won’t disappoint you.”
Yun Che’s voice trailed off and his face grew solemn. His expression changed, causing Ling Jie’s laughter to subconsciously subside as he spoke, “Boss, do you… have something to say to me?”
“Little Jie, we haven’t met in three years, but your profound strength is so high now. This has something to do with you going to Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, right?” Yun Che asked in an even tone.
“Yes.” Ling Jie nodded his head. “Grandfather loves me a lot and treats me very well. He is also very strict with my training, and during these three years, he spent most of the time personally imparting Heaven’s Might Absolute Sword to me. He has even managed to obtain many Sacred Ground quality resources for me as well.”
As he said this, Ling Jie’s eyes began to light up once more. Yun Che had confirmed many years ago that, even though Ling Jie’s personality was pure and open, deep inside, he was also someone who loved the sword to the point of irrationality. Being able to train his sword skills in a place at the level of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region with a Monarch as his teacher was something that Ling Jie would naturally dream of night and day.
“The words that I am about to say will be hard for you to understand. They may leave you at a loss or even cause you to feel disgust, but it is something that I must say regardless.” Yun Che’s face grew incomparably solemn.
“Ah?” Ling Jie’s expression tightened as he grew nervous.
“This time, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region dispatched two elders. Their goal should be to bring you back to Mighty Heavenly Sword Region to see your grandfather, Xuanyuan Jue. I think that, for you, this is something that you have been anticipating ever since you came back to the villa. I, however, hope that… you never return to the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region.”
“Ah? Why?” Ling Jie asked, mystified.
“I can’t explain it to you clearly.” Yun Che gave a faint shake of his head. “Perhaps, if you stay in Mighty Heavenly Sword Region long enough, you will be able to find the answer with your own eyes. By then, it may already be too late. I can only tell you this: Mighty Heavenly Sword Region may be a sacred land of swords in your opinion, but that is only it’s outer appearance. What it wears on the inside is far dirtier than you can imagine, and far more terrifying as well. The reason why I hope that you do not intertwine yourself too much with Mighty Heavenly Sword Region is because I do not want to see your bright, diamond-like soul get sullied. It may result in a situation where it will not be possible to extricate yourself from that place.”
“I…” Ling Jie’s expression was vacant.
“I also hope that you don’t inherit Heavenly Sword Villa. In terms of either innate talent in the sword or current skill, you are superior to your older brother, Ling Yun. Just based on these points alone, it is only right and proper that you inherit the position of Villa Master of Heavenly Sword Villa. Yet the title of Villa Master does not just come with status and glory. It also comes with far too many burdens, responsibilities, and often leaves your hands tied. The pressure that this status brings will forcibly twist your will and your personality at times… Ling Yun is far more stable than you are. In the future, the position of Villa Master is far more suitable for him than it is for you.”
Ling Jie, “…”
Yun Che patted Ling Jie’s shoulder before finally withdrawing his hand. He began to move backwards, but a faint smile lit up his face as he spoke, “Little Jie, I have said everything that I wanted to say. It is your own life, so you are the one who has to choose your path in the end. Everyone else can only observe and provide counsel. From today onward, if you ever encounter a problem that you can’t solve on your own, you can come to Frozen Cloud Asgard to look for me.”
He waved his hand at the Ling Jie who stood there staring blankly into space. After that, Yun Che took Feng Xue’er’s hand once more and they soared toward the north.
“Boss!!”
Suddenly, Ling Jie’s full-throated yell rang out from behind them, “You are the person I believe in the most… so I’ll listen to what you said… I won’t return to Mighty Heavenly Sword Region… From tomorrow onward… I will leave Heavenly Sword Villa… and roam the entire world… I will be chivalrous and heroic… leaving a good name for Heavenly Sword Villa… I will also work hard to find the Fairy of Frozen Beauty… to redeem my mother’s sins… and I, Ling Jie… will do as I say!!”
Yun Che turned around but Ling Jie had already become a distant blur. He smiled faintly as the burden in his heart became lighter.
Interlude - Looming Clouds of the Devil Sword
Southwest of the Profound Sky Continent, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. Late into the night beneath a waning moon and sparse stars.
The imminent arrival of a new moon was precisely when the bright moon was at its most incomplete state. It was currently late into the night and the sky was veiled behind a thin layer of black clouds. If one raised their heads and looked into the distance, they would only vaguely see an indistinct, slender crescent. Not long after, dark clouds of unknown origins began to silently float over, coming together to form a cluster until they gradually blocked out the light from the waning moon and stars, causing the entire world to not have the slightest sliver of light.
The time of a waning moon at night was also when the power of a certain seal was at its weakest.
In a certain secret underground space so dark that one couldn’t see anything, slow, light footsteps suddenly echoed. The sound of the footsteps echoed steadily. However, the owner of the footsteps had no intention of lighting a lantern nor illuminating a profound light and just continued to walk within the complete darkness, all the way to the bottom of this underground space.
Following the sound of the footsteps stopping, a dusky light was slowly lit. This beam of light appeared to be a murky gray and even released an especially eerie aura. If a normal person were to see this light, they would feel an uncomfortable chill.
What released this murky gray beam of light was astonishingly a sword… the sword was six and a half feet long and a foot wide. Its entire body was pitch-black and was surrounded by a strange black aura. What was even more stranger was that a pair of long and narrow black eyes slowly appeared on the oddly shaped sword hilt.
It was like the eyes of a devil which had suddenly woken up.
This pair of pitch-black eyes was sometimes clear, then dark, as its terrifying gaze looked at the human figure that walked up before it.
“Honored Devil Lord, it has been months since we’ve last met. Today is finally the time when the night is at its darkest during a waning moon.” The human figure slowly began to talk. From the voice alone, it seemed to have come from a middle-aged man.
It was because this sword’s seal would be at its weakest only during the darkest waning night. The “devil lord” in the sword would then have a short period of relative freedom… like being able to talk. Otherwise, if it were to forcibly appear during any other time, it would only cause the seal to accelerate its engulfment. This specific kind of engulfment was irreversible as well, causing it to disappear even quicker.
As for this sword, it had a well-known name.
Heavenly Sin Divine Sword!!
“How goes the process of undoing the seal… and that person named Fen Juechen!”
The Heavenly Sin Divine Sword uttered in a frightening voice. Like the mournful roar of a devil in pain, its voice bounced in waves inside the pitch-black space.
The middle-aged man faintly smiled, “Everything is going smoothly. In just two more months, it will be the precise moment when all thirteen stars are aligned. This happens once every three thousand years and will also be when the Devil Sword Conference is held. When all thirteen stars align, that will also be when the yin energy of the world will be at its pinnacle. The collective power of all the experts of the Profound Sky Continent can definitely undo the seal.”
“As for that Fen Juechen, he will also be there at that time. After all, he is the one who wishes to obtain the Heavenly Sin Devil Sword more than anyone else.”
Beneath the dusky light, one could faintly see the corner of the middle-aged man’s mouth curl into an extremely faint smile.
“Very good.” The terrifying voice rang from the sword, “Once you help this lord undo the seal and seize back the devil blood, this lord will naturally assist you in killing everyone to become the supreme ruler of this world! There won’t be anyone who could be your match then.”
“I only hope that you can keep your word. I wouldn’t want to get an unacceptable result after the troubles I’ve gone through for an entire millennia.” An ominous tone could be heard within the middle-aged man’s flat voice.
“Hahahaha, what kind of an existence am I? How can I possibly lower myself to scheme against you mere humans!? After all, in the end, this lord is but a sword so I do need a wielder. And you are the most suitable wielder!” The Heavenly Sin Divine Sword’s voice suddenly became malevolent at this time. “This lord had also said this to that man surnamed Ye. This lord only wishes to be free and didn’t even hesitate to lower myself to beg him. This lord even offered my only drop of devil blood, beseeching him to help me undo the seal, promising that I would grant them unrivaled power…”
“But once that man surnamed Ye obtained this lord’s devil blood and devil arts, not only did he not help me undo the seal, he had even added several more layers of seals, locked this lord inside the Flame Lake, and told his clan to stand guard there, swearing that this lord will never see the light of day again! If not for you saving this lord, the last wisp of this lord’s remnant soul may have already completely dissipated by now and I would have eternally become a dead sword!”
“You humans are truly the world’s most shameless, lowly creatures!!”
“Hahaha,” The middle-aged man laughed, “Do not worry, Honored Devil Lord, I am not as stupid as the Eternal Night Royal Family which bites the hand that feeds it. During these past years, I have paid an enormous price to slowly undo the seals the Eternal Night Royal Family added to your seal. For the purpose of undoing your last seal, I have even planned the Devil Sword Conference. All this is enough to show my sincerity.”
“This lord believes you! Whether in terms of strength or strategy, you can be considered to be at the peak out of the humans on this plane, worthy of becoming this lord’s wielder. If I were to talk about your greatest fault, it would be that you killed Ye Mufeng a thousand years ago without leaving a single bone! Otherwise, why else did you have to go through so much trouble?!”
The middle-aged man didn’t object, “I had not yet met Honored Devil Lord that year, so how would I know that Ye Mufeng’s bloodline would be of great use? However, in order to leave behind his bloodline, Ye Mufeng didn’t hesitate to call upon the wrath of heaven, using the “forbidden reincarnation technique” Honored Devil Lord mentioned to revive the devil blood that should have been extinguished. That was quite a great help, hahahaha.
“I sealed Ye Mufeng’s soul in the Soul Sealing Coffin, leaving it in Black Fiend Nation’s land of extreme yin, just to keep his remnant soul from dissipating. I even gave the key to the Soul Sealing Coffin to Burning Heaven Clan’s Grand Sect Master Fen Yijue after his son had reincarnated in Blue Wind Nation. I hinted in his consciousness that the key was an inheritance given by their ancestors that could be used during a desperate time. Everything went off without a hitch.
“I originally planned to slaughter Burning Heaven Clan three years before the Thirteen Star Alignment appeared and only leave Fen Juechen alive, letting him take the key to have a reunion with Ye Mufeng. Once he received the previous incarnation’s memories, in order to take revenge and obtain the power to take revenge, he would definitely wish to retrieve the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword and naturally be present at the Devil Sword Conference.
“I never thought that an unexpected accident would happen in my plans. Burning Heaven Clan was actually exterminated by that Yun Che brat. Fortunately, he did not kill Fen Juechen. He had almost ruined my great plans! If he did, dying more than ten million times wouldn’t be enough of an atonement for his crimes!” Contained within the middle-aged man’s voice was a clear-cut sinister killing intent.
“What happened after went exceptionally smoothly. Even though the time frame of my plan happened far too early, Fen Juechen successfully found Ye Mufeng’s remnant soul and his strength has even increased at a shocking rate. However, this event couldn’t be even more wonderful. If he’s too weak, it wouldn’t be easy to ‘logically’ allow him to obtain the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword.”
The middle-aged man’s voice had been flat the entire time, yet within the flatness was an extreme proudness. It was as though nothing in the entire world escaped his eyes, as though any turbulent changes were within his control.
“Honored Devil Lord. I still don’t get it, why must Fen Juechen obtain the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword? Why can’t we just capture him and forcibly take the devil blood?”
“Hmph, if that was possible, this lord would’ve done it twenty years ago instead of going through all this trouble!” The pitch-black devil sword quiety roared. “The seal on my body was in fact, left behind by a primordial god called the ‘Evil God’! Although a million years have passed since then with the seal having become extremely weak, this lord has still been engulfed, with only the smallest remnant soul remaining!! If this seal is not undone soon, this lord will completely disappear! At present, it is already extremely difficult for this lord to exist. It is fundamentally impossible for me to actively take away the devil blood power! That Fen Juechen must release the devil blood and offer it to this lord of his own accord! It can only be so!!”
“With a mere thought of his, this lord shouldn’t even think about seeing the light of day again! All of your hard work would vanish into thin air! Not to mention you forcibly seizing the devil blood!”
“So that’s how it is.” The middle-aged man slowly nodded with a face devoid of emotion. He turned around and then said indifferently, “The Thirteen Star Alignment will happen in two months. At that time, the world will be encased in darkness, yin energy will cover the sky, and it will also be the time when the seal will be at its weakest in three thousand years. By then, almost all of Profound Sky Continent’s Monarchs will be there with a great majority of the Overlords. The gathering of the power of all those Monarchs and Overlords will surely break the seal open.”
“Honored Devil Lord, don’t worry. They will definitely do their best. After all, they are all incomparably anxious to know the ‘devil sword’s’ secrets. Even moreso, they wish to know the so-called ‘secrets of the Divine Profound’, hahahahaha…”
The sound of footsteps echoed once more within the loud laughter as the middle-aged man disappeared within the darkness.
He possessed enough power and influence to blot out the sky with one hand.
He also possessed a devil’s scheming and shrewdness… Even to this day, he still had all the heroes of the realm dancing in the palm of his hand.
Yet not a single person was aware of this.
Nor did was anyone aware that his monstrous plan of becoming the world’s master was already approaching its last step.
Mighty Heavenly Sword Master Xuanyuan Wentian!
Chapter 762 - Hatred Higher Than the Heavens
Floating Cloud City, Xiao Clan.
“Grandfather, Seventh Sister has been pregnant for three months, but we’ve been unable to tell our father and mother all this time. Therefore, Seventh Sister and I are ready to pay respects to them today. Their deceased souls will be very happy to hear this.”
Xiao Yun and Number Seven Under Heaven stood in front of Xiao Lie while wearing joyful expressions on their faces. While they were at Floating Cloud City, and not tied down by the hideous mess that was their family relationships, it was the most relaxed and happy moment the newlyweds had spent in their lives… and that was without mentioning the great joy within Seventh Sister’s belly.
“Hehe, that will be the best of course.” Xiao Lie chuckled and nodded.
“I’m coming as well.” Xiao Lingxi walked over and said cheerfully, “Big Brother and Sister-in-law’s souls would definitely bless the baby…”
“Fifth Elder, Ju… Junior Master Lingxi…”
It was at this moment that an urgent cry came from outside. Then, a young disciple of the Xiao Clan ran in with hurried footsteps and a flustered look.
“What is it that made you look so flustered?” Xiao Lie lowered his eyebrows.
“It’s… it’s Fen Juechen!” The Xiao Clan disciple stopped and exclaimed while panting heavily, unable to even attend to his salutations.
“Fen Juechen!?”
This name caused everyone present to feel shocked on the inside. Number One Under Heaven swiftly took a step forward and said, “Can it be that Fen Juechen is not resigned to defeat, and has come back to seek vengeance?”
N… no.” The Xiao Clan disciple shook his head hurriedly and said pantingly, “S… someone found him… he’s lying at the eastern side of the city… bloody… all over… He looks like he’s… about to… die. None of us dare to approach him…”
Fen Juechen was a name that struck absolute fear in Floating Cloud City and especially Xiao Clan… even though he was the one who protected Floating Cloud City from destruction by the hands of the Divine Phoenix Army.
“Ah?!” Xiao Lingxi cried out in shock before running over, “Quick… bring me to him now, quickly!”
“Lingxi!” Xiao Lie stretched out his hand, but Xiao Lingxi had already hurried out of the courtyard just as he finished his words.
“Don’t worry, I’ll go after her right away. Since Fen Juechen is grievously injured and near death, then naturally he is of no threat.” Number One Under Heaven said before flying into the air and chasing after Lingxi.
“Fen Juechen may be an extremist, but he isn’t a bad person by nature. Moreover, Lingxi, I, and the entire Floating Cloud City owes him a great debt… Sigh.” Xiao Lie let out a heavy sigh.
“…” Number One Under Heaven floated into the air, summoned a gust of clear wind and flew straight towards the south.
“I will send word to Big Brother right away.” Xiao Yun took out the sound transmission jade a little clumsily.
However, Xiao Lie stretched out his hand and halted Xiao Yun’s arm. He shook his head and said, “Leave this matter to Lingxi. Che’er is her family, and that Fen Juechen is her benefactor… Lingxi has been soft and good hearted since she was young. She must be extremely afraid to watch them see each other and fight to the death…”
“Still, that is the hatred born from the destruction of one’s entire family… how can it possible be resolved…?” Xiao Lie closed his eyes and let out yet another long sigh.
——————————
At the east side of Floating Cloud City, Fen Juechen’s black clothes were torn to shreds and was stuck on his body almost entirely by many layers of dry blood.
Although he was severely defeated and injured by Yun Che two days ago, with his current constitution and recovery of profound energy, over two days of time, his injuries had lessened somewhat. At the least, they should not have worsened further. Originally, he was going to leave Floating Cloud City, after leaving the Eastern Ocean and find an uninhabited place to fully recover his injuries and profound energy. However, he ran into Jasmine who searched his soul after he was severely injured by Yun Che… Although Jasmine’s soul searching technique wasn’t as bad as the common soul searching technique that it would turn him directly into a human vegetable, it was definitely unlike the simple read of Yun Che’s Profound Handle Soul Search either. Moreover, Jasmine’s Star God powers were incomparably potent. It may have only been for a short instant, but it was still enough to severely damage Fen Juechen’s mind.
If it wasn’t for the fact that his will was far stronger than the ordinary man, he would’ve died in the Eastern Ocean a long time ago.
With his profound energy almost depleted, and his body and soul both damaged severely, he had crawled with all his might away from the Eastern Ocean, up the shore and all the way to this place… but he did not know where or how far he had climbed. The only thing that drove him so far was the pain and his desire to live.
Very soon, the people of Floating Cloud City found him, and they had all backed away from him in fear, far, far away. No one dared to approach him, much less help him… even though the current Fen Juechen was so weak that a normal kid could’ve taken his life easily.
“I… can’t… die…”
He lay on the ground, so weak that he could not even feel his own breath. He wanted to continue climbing forwards, but his arms had already lost all strength. The only thing that proved that his consciousness hadn’t faded yet was the raspy and cryptic mutters from his mouth.
“Big… Big Brother Fen…”
Xiao Lingxi’s footsteps hurried over. Fen Juechen’s current appearance shocked her greatly. She hurriedly arrived by his side and cried out urgently, “Big Brother Fen, Big Brother Fen…”
Xiao Lingxi’s voice sent a huge impact through Fen Juechen’s soul… perhaps Xiao Lingxi’s voice was also the only thing that could’ve returned some clarity and wakefulness to his currently muddy mind. He tremblingly turned his head sideways, and through blurry vision saw Xiao Lingxi’s face…
“It’s… you…”
“Yes! It’s me… It’s me, Xiao Lingxi!” Seeing that he wasn’t dead, and that he was able to speak barely, Xiao Lingxi’s worry lessened a little. She stretched out a hand in attempt to lift him to his feet, but just as her palm touched Fen Juechen’s arm, she withdrew it back as quick as lightning…
This was because his arm was actually so cold it was as if it was encased in ice.
“Don’t go near him!”
Number One Under Heaven dropped down from the sky. Although Fen Juechen’s current state was not much different from a dead person’s, his expression was still filled with caution, “This man is too dangerous.”
“Big Brother Under Heaven!” Number One Under Heaven was without a doubt a savior in Xiao Lingxi’s eyes to have arrived now, “Help him, quickly. His injury is so severe. If you don’t help him then he’ll… he’ll be in great danger.”
“Save him?” Number One Under Heaven’s eyebrows lowered, “He is an extremely dangerous person who tried to kill Brother Yun! I personally want to kill him now so we can be rid of this threat.”
“No!” Xiao Lingxi hurriedly stood up and blocked Number One Under Heaven, “Big Brother Fen is not a bad person. He really isn’t. The root cause behind his reason to kill Little Che… is all me. It’s not his fault. On the contrary, I owe him my life twice, and it was also thanks to him that Floating Cloud City was safe when it was being invaded by the Divine Phoenix Army. Otherwise, god knows how many people would’ve died at the hands of the Divine Phoenix Army.”
Number One Under Heaven, “…”
“Therefore, I beg of Big Brother Under Heaven, please save him. Think of it… think of it as repaying his favor. Please, Big Brother Under Heaven, I beg you…”
Xiao Lingxi’s eyes rippled with pleading.
Fen Juechen’s spiritual perception might be impossibly weak at the moment, but it was still enough to hear Xiao Lingxi and Number One Under Heaven’s voices. He let out a painful and raspy voice with trembling lips, “Ignore me… I don’t… need you to care for me… Ugh…”
He stretched out a trembling palm, ready to climb away from this place. However, his entire arm moved only half an inch before it could proceed no longer.
“Big Brother Under Heaven…” Xiao Lingxi begged him once more.
“Sigh!” Number One Under Heaven waved his hand and stopped her from continuing any further. He swept a complicated glance at Fen Juechen at his feet before sighing, “Two days ago, during the final moments of the battle, although Brother Yun’s profound energy was greatly depleted, he was in great condition and should have had the ability to kill him easily. Still, he released him… so I suppose even Brother Yun does not truly wish to see him die.”
“Never mind. I hope I’m not doing something stupid.”
Number One Under Heaven might be warlike in nature, but as an elf he was also a good hearted person and disliked killing. Moreover, Xiao Lingxi’s pleading was really hard for him to resist. After a long internal struggle, he ultimately stretched out his hands and formed a refined lump of nature energy in his palm.
The tension on Xiao Lingxi’s face instantly turned into a very faint smile. She said gratefully, “Thank you, Big Brother Under Heaven.”
“However, if he does anything that I believe is dangerous, then I will kill him immediately!” Number One Under Heaven said seriously.
“He will not. He will definitely not. I know better than anyone that he is definitely not a bad person.” Xiao Lingxi said with absolute certainty.
Number One Under Heaven did not say anything. He crouched down and pressed his palm to the back of Fen Juechen’s heart… the second he touched him, his eyebrows abruptly twitched as a nature’s aura swiftly entered Fen Juechen’s body.
“Don’t… touch me!” Fen Juechen roared weakly in disgust and anger.
“Hmph. Goodwill is regarded as malice.” Number One Under Heaven snorted impatiently and swiftly withdrew his hand after injecting a full surge of nature energy. Then, he stood up and looked at Feng Juechen no longer. The nature energy he injected into Feng Juechen could swiftly aid his severely injured body in regaining its life energy. Moreover, it could to a certain degree quicken the recovery of his wounds, although it would not aid in the recovery of his profound energy. In Feng Juechen’s current state, even if he recovered his ability to move, there was no way he could be a threat for a very long time.
Under the miraculous power of the elven energy, Feng Juechen’s eyes gradually regained their clarity. Even his breathing had obviously grown heavier. Xiao Lingxi let out a heavy sigh of relief as she said gratefully to Number One Under Heaven, “Big Brother Under Heaven, thank you… may I trouble you once more to carry him to Xiao Clan? In his current state, he will need a quiet place to be able to recover.”
Number One Under Heaven looked deeply at Xiao Lingxi. He was not surprised at all by her decision. He nodded slightly, grabbed Feng Juechen by the collar and jumped straight into the air, lifting him to fly straight towards Xiao Clan.
————————————
During the time Feng Juechen stayed at Floating Cloud City, he had lived in a courtyard at the corner of Xiao Clan. After he left, no one had ever dared to approach it. Number One Under Heaven threw him right through the window and into the house inside the courtyard. Then he left straight away. He was not a man to let his emotions affect his decisions, and he would never have done something like saving an infinitely dangerous and scary person and bringing him back to his family… However, even if he did not save him, Xiao Lingxi would have thought of a way on her own to take him back to the house, and the process in doing so would’ve been filled with countless hardships. If that was going to be the case, then he might as well do it himself.
It was even more impossible for him to kill Feng Juechen right before her eyes… not to mention that Yun Che did not kill him two days ago either.
That being said, although he had turned around and left, he did not in fact stay too far away from the house. His spiritual perception continued to lock tightly on the courtyard Feng Juechen was in, staying alert against any potential incidents.
“Big Brother Fen, how are you doing? Are you feeling better?”
Xiao Lingxi crouched beside him and asked in concern. With the assistance of Number One Under Heaven’s nature energy, Feng Juechen’s five senses had already recovered mostly. Even his body had regained some strength, although it seemed insufficient to support him just yet.
“Ignore… me…” Fen Juechen turned his head away. The short sentence took him a lot of energy to utter. He was numbed to the intense pain in his body and soul from long ago, but that pain seemed to have decreased quite a bit now that his profound energy was depleted, and his body was grievously injured.
“What’s with the wounds on your body? After you met Little Che that day… did you meet with another enemy?” Xiao Lingxi asked softly. Everyone in Floating Cloud City was afraid of him, and the people in Xiao Clan were so terrified of him they even lost control of their bowels when they saw him. Xiao Lingxi was the only one who was never afraid of him, because she was firmly believed that he was not a bad person.
When he heard Yun Che’s name from Xiao Lingxi’s mouth, Feng Juechen’s pupils abruptly shrank as a fierce hatred gushed up his throat, “I told you… to ignore… me!”
While roaring, he abruptly stretched out and pushed Xiao Lingxi on the shoulder. Xiao Lingxi let out a cry and abruptly fell down on the floor.
Feng Juechen panted heavily, a moment of panic flashing across his eyes… he didn’t think that he had regained this much energy.
Xiao Lingxi was neither afraid, nor angry, nor withdrawn by Feng Juechen’s scolding, anger, hatred and violence. She stood up and said with her voice still as gentle as ever, “Big Brother Fen, I know that you have never been one to depend on others. However, you should not force yourself in your current state. It is best if you set your mind to rest and recover first.”
“I will find you some recovery medicines. Although Xiao Clan is very small, we still have some very good herbs in stock. They will definitely be good for your injuries… Big Brother Fen, rest well for the moment. I will come back in four hours.”
Once Xiao Lingxi finished softly, she stood up and left with light footsteps.
When the girl left, and the door was closed, Feng Juechen’s expression was frozen, and his eyes were blank. For a moment, he looked as if he had lost his soul. After a very long time, he raised his heads and leaned against the icy cold wall behind him. His fists gradually clenched together…
“The death of one’s whole family is absolutely irreconcilable… Yun Che… I will kill you… no matter what… no matter what!!”
The moment Xiao Lingxi exited the courtyard Feng Juechen was settled into, she immediately saw Number One Under Heaven standing there with a solemn expression.
“Big Brother Under Heaven, please… do not tell Little Che about Feng Juechen for the moment.”
“I know.” Number One Under Heaven nodded, “However, that is under the premise that he is not strong enough to threaten me. If his profound energy recovers near to the point where I cannot control him, then either he leaves, or I… will tell Brother Yun.”
“Mm.” Xiao Lingxi nodded lightly and said gratefully, “Thank you, Big Brother Under Heaven.”
Number One Under Heaven let out a faint laugh and shook his head, “You don’t have to thank me. You are the person Brother Yun appreciates the most, so you have the right to be headstrong.” He paused for a moment before choosing to continue, “You should know that a great threat towards Brother Yun will be gone if he is to die. By saving him, you will add a deadly threat towards Brother Yun. Are you… trying to resolve his hatred towards Brother Yun?”
“I know that this is very, very difficult.” Xiao Lingxi lowered her head and muttered softly, “But he did save my life after all. He saved father and Floating Cloud City, and he is definitely not a bad person by nature. The tragedies inflicted on him all started because of me, which is why I cannot ignore it. I only hope… I only hope that…”
“May it be as you wish.” Number One Under Heaven said indifferently before flying away.
“Sigh.” He turned around to glance once at Xiao Lingxi’s delicate figure. When he recalled Feng Juechen’s hatred and killing intent that was so icy that it was impossibly scary when he was facing Yun Che, Number One Under Heaven let out a soft sigh, “That is the hatred of one whole family’s death. To say that it is absolutely irreconcilable is an understatement. So how can it possibly be resolved?”
Time quickly approached evening. After Xiao Lingxi exited the medicine pavilion, she entered Feng Juechen’s courtyard with quick steps.
She pushed open the door and entered, and Feng Juechen was still in the same state as before. His aura seemed to have calmed down quite a bit, and his eyes were half-lidded. He did not appear to be asleep, but he did not react at all towards Xiao Lingxi’s arrival.
“Big Brother Fen, are you better now?”
Xiao Lingxi walked closer while holding a black soup bowl, “This is a freshly cooked medicinal soup. The medicine pavilion elder said that it can improve one’s blood circulation and recover one’s strength…”
Xiao Lingxi wasn’t yet finished when the lifeless Fen Juechen suddenly slapped out and flung the soup bowl in her hands fiercely against the floor. With a pang the bowl shattered as the medicinal soup sprayed everywhere.
“Ah!!” Xiao Lingxi cried out and retreated a step. She said anxiously, “Big Brother Fen, you… never mind. I’ll go cook another bowl for you.”
“I’ll repeat this once more… ignore me!!”
Four hours of rest was enough to for Feng Juechen to recover some strength in his voice. His tone was also deeper than before, “I will leave here before it is dark. From here on… we will never meet each other again!”
“No!” Xiao Lingxi shook her head and said anxiously, “Your wounds are so severe. If you are met with any danger out there, then you may lose your life. At the least… At the least, please heal your wounds before you leave.”
“Do… do you know what you’re doing!!” Feng Juechen abruptly raised his head with clenched teeth, “The reason I’m alive is all to kill Yun Che! If I die, then he’ll be able to live a bit longer. Isn’t that exactly what you want!? Then why are you still trying to save me!?”
Xiao Lingxi shook her head, “No. I do not wish any harm upon Little Che, but I also cannot stand by and watch…”
“Do you think that if you save me, I will be deeply grateful to you and not kill Yun Che!?” Fen Juechen roared through seething teeth, “Don’t be naive! All these years, everything that I’ve worked for, everything that I’ve endured are all to kill him! To this moment I am still doing my best to survive in order to kill him… there is no one and nothing in this world that can stop me from killing him! As long as I still live in this world, I will sacrifice everything to kill him!”
Feng Juechen’s every word was like a heavy hammer that struck Xiao Lingxi in her chest. While holding in her pain, she said softly, “Big Brother Fen, I’ve always known that you’re not a bad person. On the contrary, you’re a very, very good person. Yun Che and I have done you wrong back then, but I believe that you know yourself that Little Che is not a bad or cruel person as well. Back then, everything he did was to protect my father and I… Can the grudge between you two truly not be resolved? Why must it be this way…?”
“Resolved? My entire family died!!” Fen Juechen’s face writhed in pain, “The murder of one’s father is already utterly irreconcilable, but he… he killed all of my relatives; exterminated everyone in my family! He is the one who took away my family and my home and turn me into a lone demon who lives only to claim vengeance! This hatred is higher than the heaven itself… how can it possibly be resolved!? For what reason should it be resolved!?”
“No!” Xiao Lingxi shook her head strongly and placed both her hands before her chest. She stared into Feng Juechen’s terrifying, hatred filled eyes with her own warm and honest eyes, “Who said that Big Brother Fen has lost all of his family and home? Big Brother Fen is definitely not alone.”
Amidst Feng Juechen’s startled gaze, Xiao Lingxi lightly knelt on one knee, and with a raised head and sincere eyes she said, “With the heavens as witness, I, Xiao Lingxi am willing to take Big Brother Fen, Fen Juechen as my elder brother. From this moment onwards, Big Brother Fen is my elder brother. Blessings or hardships, I will bear them both together with Big Brother Fen. The home of Xiao Lingxi, is the home of Big Brother Fen. As Big Brother Fen’s sister, I will do my best to take care of Big Brother Fen, listen to his words, lend him my care and company and endure everything for him. I will never leave Big Brother Fen alone and solitary ever again.”
“If I am to go against this oath, then may both heaven and earth destroy me.”
Words of sincerity. Oath of solemnity. Feng Juechen’s gaze shook greatly as he followed Xiao Lingxi’s gradual lowering hands. His eyes were blurry, and he felt as if he had fallen into a dream. Then, his body and even his soul began to tremble intensely and uncontrollably…
Sis… ter…
Family…
Home…
Chapter 763 - Tears of a Devil
Familial love… Home…
These were things that had long ago vanished from his world and he did not even dare to dream about them any longer…
From the moment he had begun to absorb Ye Mufeng’s devil soul, the only things that were left in his world were pain, ruthlessness, despair and an icy hatred… If an average everyday life was heaven then his life had become complete hell.
And Xiao Lingxi had become the only source of warmth in his entire universe.
She was the only reason he had stayed at Floating Cloud City all this time. As long as he could just catch a glimpse of her once a day, it would bring him endless satisfaction. Iit even made the enormous pain he had to endure while absorbing the devil origin almost bearable. But when it came to drawing closer to her… he had never dared to do so before, because to everyone else, he was terrifying devil god, and it was only in front of Xiao Lingxi that he would feel madly ashamed of the boundless inferiority and timidity that was birthed in his heart.
Because he had long ago stopped regarding himself as a human, and now he only thought of himself as an ugly and repulsive devil; a devil whose soul had been completely stained with filth.
He thirsted for the death of Yun Che… he had originally thought that Xiao Lingxi would not consent to ever see him again after he had left Floating Cloud City that day. He thought she would only be repulsed by him from that day forth, feeling only loathing and hatred for him. During the three months before his duel with Yun Che, he could not control the urge to return to Floating Cloud City so that he could see Xiao Lingxi again. He only gazed at her from afar… because he was afraid that she would find out.
Today, she had not only dragged him back from the borders of death, she had even taken the initiative to recognize him as her brother and become his family, giving him a new home again.
No one knew that her every word and action had such a profound effect on his very soul. It was as if a raging blizzard had blown through his icy world.
He was caught up in a fantasy that he did not dare believe in… but after that Fen Juechen drew back in fright, his body shrinking backwards as he shook his head vigorously, “No, it can’t be… it shouldn’t be like this, you’re definitely… definitely doing this so that I will stop going after Yun Che’s life…”
Xiao Lingxi replied in a very forceful tone, “Big Brother Fen, every single word that I have said, and the vow that I have just made, has come from the bottom of my heart! If… if it was because of Little Che, why would I get Big Brother Under Heaven to bring you back…”
“No, you don’t understand!” Fen Juechen shook his head even more vigorously, his eyes closing shut as his face was filled with pain, “Right now, I’ve become… a devil, a devil who is filled with sin and only lives for vengeance, you can’t understand this… you can’t understand at all!”
“You’re the one who doesn’t understand!!” Xiao Lingxi shouted, “Big Brother Fen, do you still remember how, for the sake of protecting me four years ago, you suffered a broken arm at the hands of your brother Fen Juecheng? Yet you still refused to let go of him… This is something that I, Xiao Lingxi, will remember for the rest of my life. So how can someone like this be a devil!?
“During your time in Floating Cloud City, I always thought that you were constantly suffering. You made yourself cold and cruel, and you even called yourself a devil… But you did all of this for the sake of avenging your family. A true ‘devil’ is someone that is selfish and brutal. How could a true devil give up his own humanity for the sake of his dead relatives and plunge himself into a world of pain!?
“I am afraid of the danger that you pose to Little Che… but what I am even more sure of is that from start to finish, you have been blameless and you have only ever been a victim this entire time. At the very least, you are definitely not the villain that you make yourself out to be…”
“No… do not speak any further.” Xiao Lingxi’s words did not put him at ease, on the contrary, his expression grew even more tortured as he clutched both hands to his head, “You don’t understand, you really don’t understand… I really have become a devil…
“I don’t have the right to be treated this way by you!”
“Whether you possess the qualifications or not is not something that Big Brother Fen can say.” Xiao Lingxi replied in a soft voice as she shook her head, “For me, the word ‘family’ is sacred. In my entire life, the only family I have ever had was Father, Little Che and the newly-returned Xiao Yun. I have never ever once thought of calling someone who was unrelated to me by blood family. But Big Brother Fen isn’t the same… When the Divine Phoenix Army descended on our Floating Cloud City, it was Big Brother Fen who protected us and protected the home where Little Che and I grew up in. So to me, Big Brother Fen is not only a good person and my benefactor, he is also a true hero!”
Fen Juechen, “…..”
“So, I will always respect and feel a sense of intimacy with Big Brother Fen. If Big Brother Fen is willing to become my elder brother, then we can rely on one another, and protect our family together. To me, that will be a most fortunate event that will bring incomparable joy to my heart. If Big Brother Fen rejects me, I will definitely be very sad and despondent.”
Fen Juechen’s body trembled as it froze in place. He stood there, stock still, his eyes glazed over, as if he had become a statue.
“But it seems like Big Brother Fen does not want to be part of my family.” Xiao Lingxi raised her head and looked at him, her eyes clouded by sadness and loss.
“I… I…” Under her unrelenting gaze, the man, who had caused a Divine Phoenix Army that was two hundred thousand strong to tremble in fear and had filled Yun Che with a profound dread, was all of a sudden at a loss for words as he was completely flustered.
“Anyways…” Xiao Lingxi said as she laughed once more. Her blossoming smile caused the world in front of Fen Juechen to explode in light, “I have said all I have wanted to say, and I’ve even sworn such a venomous curse. So I don’t care if Big Brother Fen is unwilling to accept this little sister of yours, because he will always be an elder brother to me from now on! From now on the Xiao Clan will always be Big Brother Fen’s home, and this room will always be yours as well. When Big Brother Fen is at home, I will take care of Big Brother Fen as if he were my own elder brother, and I’ll share both the good and the bad with Big Brother Fen from now on!”
“However, if Big Brother Fen does something wrong, as your younger sister, I will not hesitate to criticize and correct you!!”
Without waiting for Fen Juechen’s reply, Xiao Lingxi stood up, a pretty and coquettish smile appearing on her face, “It’s decided then! Big Brother Fen is badly wounded right now, so no matter what, you can’t resist me! So…”
“Give me a moment, I’ll be back straight away!”
Xiao Lingxi finished her little monologue and immediately scampered away… but before long, she pushed open the doors yet again and she carried a set of clean gray-white clothes in her hands.
“Big Brother Fen, all of the clothes that you were wearing are tattered and torn, and they’re really stinky too. Put on some clean clothes first. Big Brother Fen isn’t used to relying on other people and it looks like you’ve already recovered quite a bit of strength, so you can definitely wear these clothes by yourself. I won’t ask Big Brother Under Heaven to come and help.” She said as she smiled merrily, gently placing the clothes into Fen Juechen’s hands, “Right, these are Little Che’s old clothes, so they should fit rather well.”
When Fen Juechen, whose heart was numbed by his internal turmoil, heard the two words “Yun Che”, a violent emotion instinctively stirred in his heart, “Yun… Che!?”
“Yes!” Xiao Lingxi paid no attention at all to the irregularity in Fen Juechen’s voice and aura and she still smiled sweetly as she replied, “These are the clothes he left behind before he left the last time, and I just laundered them not too long ago. I know that Big Brother Fen truly hates Little Che, but the clothes didn’t do anything wrong. A mighty person like Big Brother Fen definitely shouldn’t be so petty that he won’t even let a set of clothes off… I’ll go and boil up a new batch of medicine, so Big Brother Fen needs to be good and wear these clothes. I’ll be back once the medicine has finished boiling.”
Xiao Lingxi gave a gentle smile as she turned around to leave, closing the door behind her.
The world had suddenly fallen into a dead silence, and Fen Juechen felt his heart beating in his chest with such clear intensity.
He sat there blankly for a very long time, before finally stretching out a hand towards the clothes beside him.
The clothes were folded in a neat and tidy manner, they were completely clean and one could still smell a faint fragrance emanating from them.
These were the clothes of the person he hated the most, Yun Che, and he hated him so much that he hated everything associated with him… he should have been completely repulsed by them, tearing these clothes into shreds and going into a simmering rage. But… at this moment, his heart was bereft of any rage or killing intent when he held them in his hands. Even the act of picking up the clothes was subconsciously done in a careful and gentle manner.
…………
“With the heavens as my witness, I, Xiao Lingxi, take Big Brother Fen as my elder brother… from now on, I am part of Big Brother Fen’s family and my home has also become Big Brother Fen’s family…
“You’re the one who doesn’t understand… I am afraid of the danger that you pose to Little Che… but what I am even more sure of is that from start to finish, you have been blameless throughout, and you have only ever been a victim the entire time. At the very least, you are definitely not the villain that you make yourself out to be…
“…So to me, Big Brother Fen is not only a good person and my benefactor, he is also a true hero!”
“If Big Brother Fen is willing to become my elder brother… To me, that would be the happiest and most fortunate thing…”
“I don’t care if Big Brother Fen is unwilling to accept this little sister of yours, because he will always be an elder brother to me from now on! From now on the Xiao Clan will always be Big Brother Fen’s home…”
…………
Xiao Lingxi’s voice, her every word, and her every action, resounded in his heart again and again as it rippled across every corner of his soul.
Drip…
The soft sound of dripping water was exceedingly clear in this quiet space. Fen Juechen dazedly hung his head… and a damp moistness began to silently spread to the corners of the gray clothes in his hands.
Te… ars…
He extended a trembling finger and touched his face… his fingertips coming into contact with a long trail of wetness…
Tears…
I had clearly already become a devil that had erased all traces of his humanity and emotion, a devil that was only left with sin and vengeance…
Why… do I still have tears…
His fingers were trembling, but his soul was shuddering with even more ferocity. He did not recognize the emotion that filled his soul right now. The only thing that he was aware of were the tears dripping uncontrollably down his face. He could not stop them…
So it turns out that I… could still be… “human”, huh…
————————————————
alyschu: Yes, some of the “flashbacks” from the last chapter were reworded for some reason known only to the author…
Chapter 764 - The Approaching Devil Sword Conference
“Big Brother Fen, the medicine is ready… but I’m going to say this first! This time you better not throw it away petulantly, because if you do, I’m really going to get angry with you!”
Xiao Lingxi pushed the door open as she strode into the room. The medicine in her hand was still boiling so the first thing she did was place the medicine on the little table in front of the door. When she looked at Fen Juechen she discovered that he had already changed his clothes and was standing… Even though his aura was rather weak and his face was pale, he still stood very straight.
Xiao Lingxi’s eyes lit up and she crowed with joy, “Big Brother Fen, it seems like you’re already able to stand up, that’s great!”
No one would have thought that it was possible for Fen Juechen’s heart to have gone through such a tumultuous change in the short period between Xiao Lingxi’s departure and return. Xiao Lingxi’s figure appeared once more in his sight, and nervousness, an emotion that would not have appeared in front of anyone else, crept across the face of the usually calm Fen Juechen as he stuttered, “Xiao Lingxi, I…”
“You’re not allowed to address me like that anymore!” Xiao Lingxi said in a serious tone, “Don’t forget, right now you’ve already become my elder brother, so you need to call me sister, or… you can just call me Lingxi if you like. The three words Xiao Lingxi are far too distant.”
“Hm… these clothes really fit you very well, it is practically as if they were measured and made just for you.” Xiao Lingxi said with a smile as her eyes roamed across Fen Juechen’s body, “But that’s to be expected, because your figure has always been very similar to that of Little Che’s. When I think about it, besides your figure, there are many other similarities that you share with him.”
“I am similar to… Yun Che?” Fen Juechen said in a daze.
Xiao Lingxi raised eyes which were filled with astonishment. This was because Fen Juechen did not give off a bone-chilling, icy-cold murderous aura at the mention of the name “Yun Che”. She gave a light nod of her head, “Yes, you really resemble him in many ways. For example, normally Little Che is a very gentle and warm person, but when he goes up against people who want to harm those who are important to him, he becomes very extreme, just like Big Brother Fen who has been consumed with the desire for vengeance. Also, he has an extremely strong ego. He is very obsessive about things that he wants to do, and he will always bear the burden for every single thing… these are the areas where the both of you are alike.”
Fen Juechen, “…”
“Actually, Little Che recently told me that he did not regret doing what he did four years ago. Yet at the same time, he had always felt some remorse when it came to you. He said that given your personality, not killing you all those years ago was actually far crueler than the alternative. And now, even when he had the chance to kill you, he was unable to bring himself to do the actual deed. If there is any way he can make it up to you, he will definitely do all that he can to make it so.”
“…” Fen Juechen’s arms began to tremble violently.
“Big Brother Fen, I know that asking you to set aside your desire for vengeance is a very selfish thing indeed. After all, you lost all of your relatives. But… but you are clearly such a good person, and Little Che is also such a good person as well. The past can’t be changed anymore, so does it mean that one of you has to die before this matter can reach its ultimate resolution? Is there truly not a slight… not a slight possibility that this does not need to come to pass?”
Fen Juechen raised his arm, and it was as if his gaze penetrated his flesh, and that he was looking at his ice-cold blood which was far darker than a normal person’s, “In order to kill Yun Che, I have paid an enormous price to attain the power that I have today. If I just give up like this… what is the worth of this power that I have given up everything to attain…?”
“Oh, it’s really simple.” Xiao Lingxi said in a soft voice, “Great power need not only be used for vengeance, it can also be used to protect the people that you desire to protect.”
“Pro…tect…”
“That’s right!” Xiao Lingxi said as a faint smile bloomed across her face, “Like Big Brother Fen, Little Che has always been diligently pursuing strength, but the reason he is chasing after strength is not to be able to be victorious in battle, it is so that he can protect the people that he wants to protect, and keep them from coming to any harm. This is also why he chose the heavy sword as his weapon, it is also for the sake of ‘protecting’. So Big Brother Fen can use his own power to protect the ones that he wants to protect… Besides, Big Brother Fen is already so powerful, the ones who are being protected by Big Brother Fen will definitely feel very safe and happy.”
Xiao Lingxi slowly raised her eyes and her starry pupils expanded to form two delicate moons, “And I don’t know if I can also have the privilege of being someone that Big Brother Fen wants to protect? Heh… if that’s possible, then not only will I have Little Che’s protection, but I will also have Big Brother Fen watching over me. Just the thought of this makes me feel like I’m the most fortunate person in the entire world.”
Protect…
My power does not only need to be used for vengeance, it can also be used to… protect her…
Fen Juechen placed a hand on his chest and the evil and icy-cold power that resided in his body, the power that caused even him to feel fear and disgust, suddenly felt rather warm…
“If… I kill Yun Che, will you still be willing to accept my protection?” Fen Juechen mumbled.
Xiao Lingxi did not shake her head, but she did not nod her head either. She merely replied in a soft but resolute tone, “If Little Che is no longer around, then I won’t tarry on this earth for much longer either.”
Fen Juechen, “…!!”
Xiao Lingxi closed her eyes and said in a very soft voice, “Little Che is the person who grew up together with me and he is also the person that treats me the best. In my entire life, almost every single happy thing that has happened to me has occurred because of him. So to me, Little Che is like half of my life. In fact, he is the more important half, so if he isn’t around… then I will never be able to experience happiness ever again.”
“Three years ago, when I received the news of his death, I desired to accompany him as well… but I still had my dear father, so I could not leave him to fend for himself. But right now, Xiao Yun has returned, so now that he is around to accompany father, if anything ever happens to Little Che, I can have peace of mind when I go to accompany him.”
“…” Fen Juechen’s breathing had become rough and heavy, his hand tightened strongly and it seemed as if he was going to rip the flesh off his chest. He recalled the time that he had spent in Floating Cloud City, and during that period, he had seen Lingxi everyday, but he had never seen her smile even once. Her face had been etched with a sorrow and despondency which seemed like it could never be erased.
During the times he had visited Floating Cloud City after Yun Che had returned alive, he no longer saw the sorrow on her face anymore. Instead it had been replaced by a gentle happiness and a warm smile, as if her life had already been completely fulfilled, and she no longer had any regrets in this life.
“Okay… I promise you that from now on, I… will no longer try to kill him.”
The words that had come from his mouth resounded in their souls like peals of heavenly thunder. Xiao Lingxi’s head jerked up violently and her eyes began trembling violently as well, “Big Brother Fen, you… what did you just say? You just… what you said… is… is it true?”
Fen Juechen had thought that saying these words would cause him incomparable pain, but the moment the words had left his lips, it felt as if a huge burden had been lifted off his chest instead. Lingxi’s face was filled with astonished joy and disbelief, a deep sense of satisfaction appeared in her heart.
What was going on…
Why was it like this…
The tens of thousands of lives that were lost when my entire clan died… the absolutely irreconcilable grievance and hatred that I had for him… the hell that I have endured over the past few years…
In the end… all of these things cannot be compared to her smiling face?
Why do I not feel any discontentment or pain…
Just why…
“I will no longer try to kill Yun Che, and even if he stands before me, I will no longer take any action against him… and I won’t do so ever again.” Fen Juechen’s voice did not waver this time, and it was instead filled with sincerity and resoluteness.
“I… I…” Every word sounded like a celestial chorus which had descended from the heavens. Xiao Lingxi’s eyes instantly grew misty as a trail of tears steadily trickled down her face.
“Big Brother Fen… thank you… thank… thank you…” She pressed her lips together with force, she could not stop the joyous tears that were streaming crazily down her face, and her entire body was wracked by sobs.
The corner of Fen Juechen’s mouth crooked slightly… If he was looking at a mirror, he would be able to see that a small smile was playing across his face… and he had thought that he would never be able to smile again.
Lingxi… From this day forth, as long as I am still breathing, anyone can forget about harming a hair on your head ever again… I will not allow anyone to do so!
Number One Under Heaven hovered in the air above the room, his face filled with shock, and a long time passed before he regained his senses.
“Whether it comes to appearance, profound strength or status, she is a far cry from the Little Demon Empress, but Brother Yun had kept pining for her day and night when he was in the Demon Imperial City, could it be… could it be that…”
“Not only does she possess an unmatched intellect, but she also has a soul that shines like a precious diamond.” Number One Under Heaven mused to himself.
————————————————————
Time continued to pass, and within the blink of an eye, two months had passed. It was finally approaching the day that the Devil Sword Conference would be convened.
“Whoosh!!”
Yun Che breathed a great sigh of relief as he returned to his ice pavilion. With a backwards flip, he planted himself on his ice bed… because today, his “grand scheme” had finally come to complete fruition. Aside from the few young disciples who had just been admitted into Frozen Cloud Asgard and could not endure the strength of the medicine, all the other Frozen Cloud disciples had been given a boost in profound strength through his skillful use of the Overlord Pellet… Furthermore, every single person’s power had increased by at least one great realm.
In this short span of time, he had forcefully dragged his sect to a whole new level. This entire undertaking had been equivalent to a few thousand years of accumulation and expansion by any other sect. In the history of the Profound Sky Continent, it was definitely an event that had never ever happened before.
What was even more terrifying was that in the process of increasing the profound strength of the Frozen Cloud disciples, Yun Che had also conveniently opened up all of their profound entrances, so their profound cultivation would be many times faster than it had been from now on… Right now, every single Frozen Cloud disciple had attained the Heavenly God’s Spiritual Veins that other sects could only dream about attaining once every few thousand years or so… so Yun Che’s actions were practically begging for the punishment of heaven.
The process of raising the profound strength of all the Frozen Cloud disciples also counted as a rather rigorous cultivation for him as well, so in these last two months, his profound strength had undergone some growth as well. Ten days before, he had finally managed to break in the sixth level of the Emperor Profound Realm.
“Big Brother Yun, can I come in?”
Feng Xue’er’s tender, graceful and lovable voice came from outside his door and just by hearing that sweet voice, Yun Che felt as if all of the aches and pains on his body had simply vanished. He got up with a “swish” as he replied, “Xue’er, hurry up and come inside.”
Today, Feng Xue’er still wore a set of snowy clothes, she was as beautiful as a divine maiden, as graceful and pretty as a fairy. She was enveloped in Yun Che’s embrace, and with a soft cry, she practically melted into his bosom… During these five months that they had lived together, she had practically become used to his frivolous ways.
“Big Brother Yun, Royal Father just sent me a sound transmission to inform me that the Devil Sword Conference would be officially convening in four days time and that he has already arrived at the Supreme Ocean Palace. He also told me that the majority of the invited powers have already reached the Supreme Ocean Palace as well. When is Big Brother Yun going?” Feng Xue’er softly asked as she was embraced by him.
“Ah? There’s still four days?” Yun Che was slightly shocked as he raised his head and silently calculated the time before nodding his head and replying, “It is not strange that they would all arrive early. After all, the ones who have been invited are all the peak powers that exist within the Profound Sky Continent. The leaders of the Four Great Sacred Grounds will all be in attendance as well. This kind of spectacle has probably only happened a few times in the history of the Profound Sky Continent. Furthermore, the attraction this time is rather enticing, the secret of the Divine Profound huh… heh heh.”
“Then when are we going to make our move?” Feng Xue’er asked. If they were going to fly to the Supreme Ocean Palace from their current location, even given their speed, it would still take them at least ten days. However, with the Primordial Profound Ark, this problem was clearly no longer a problem.
“Hmm…” Yun Che pondered the question for a while before replying, “Then let’s leave tomorrow morning. I still have some other things to do at that place, so it will be good to arrive a bit earlier as well.
“Let’s go and inform all the Junior and Senior Masters first.”
Yun Che and Feng Xue’er arrived at the Frozen End Divine Hall. Murong Qianxue and the others were all within the hall, and every single person was surrounded by a hazy layer of ice crystals and mist. At Yun Che’s arrival, the ice crystals and mist immediately vanished and all of them stood up as they paid their respects towards Yun Che.
“Greetings, Asgard Master.”
Yun Che did a quick examination of the aura of the six people in front of him. His brows knitted together as he asked in an astonished and confounded voice, “To think that not a single one of you was able to make a breakthrough? That is exceedingly strange, all of you have outstanding innate talent, all of your profound entrances have been opened and your profound strength has already reached the Tyrant Profound Realm. You should be able to handle higher-level laws of nature… so why haven’t any of you been able to comprehend the Frozen End Divine Art despite laboring at it for so long… it truly is strange.”
When he had begun cultivating the Frozen End Divine Art, he had only needed a few minutes to comprehend it, and he had only needed a day and a night for his comprehension to deepen. But Murong Qianxue and the others had the Frozen Cloud Art and the Frozen Heart Art as their foundation, moreover, all of them had the Heavenly God’s Spiritual Veins as well, but in the end not a single person could comprehend the Frozen End Divine Art… none of the six of them could make the first step into understanding the Frozen End Divine Art, much less beginning to cultivate it.
“Asgard Master, even though we have tried to forcefully understand the profound art, in the end we cannot circulate our profound energy in accordance with it. Furthermore, the laws of nature that are contained within flit in and out of our minds and they are exceedingly hard to grasp… many years ago, when we tried to cultivate the Frozen End Divine Art, the results were the same. Despite undergoing an enormous breakthrough in our profound strength, the results are still the same.” Mu Lanyi said as she furrowed her crescent brows together.
“It seems as if we are destined to never be able to learn the Frozen End Divine Art.” Murong Qianxue said with a soft sigh, “However, this isn’t because we are slow or lacking in talent. In the thousand year history of the Frozen Cloud Asgard, there have only been three people who were able to cultivate the Frozen End Divine Art. The first person was the Frozen Cloud Ancestor, and the other two people are the Asgard Master and Xia Qingyue.”
Yun Che raised a hand to his jaw and just as he was about to lapse into deep thought, Jasmine’s voice resounded in his heart, “It’s better if you just saved your strength and stopped trying. Even if you gave them another ten thousand years, they would still not be able to cultivate the Frozen End Divine Art.”
“Eh? Why?” Yun Che said in shock.
Chapter 765 - The Peculiar Frozen End Divine Art
“The Frozen End Divine Art made a sudden appearance a thousand years ago due to the Frozen Cloud Ancestor, Mu Bingyun. Before that there were no previous records of it. Didn’t you find something fishy about that? This profound art is not as simple as you believe it to be… and if you want to cultivate it, you will need the blood or soul of a certain divine beast. If not, even if your comprehension is top-notch and you are able to understand it, you will never be able to release even the teeniest bit of its power.”
“Just like how someone that does not have the Phoenix bloodline will never be able to truly cultivate the ‘World Ode of the Phoenix’!”
“What?” This time Yun Che was not just taken aback, he was truly shocked, “So what you’re saying is that the Frozen End Divine Art is actually a primordial divine art that was left behind by a certain divine beast?”
“Wait, wait, that’s not right!” Yun Che suddenly recalled something as he blurted out a response, “If that’s the case, then how come I can cultivate it? And how the heck did Qingyue cultivate it as well?”
“Hmph, that is because Xia Qingyue has the Nine Profound Exquisite Body, so she can break through the boundaries of most natural laws! As for you, you have the Evil God Profound Veins, so you can ignore both the natural order and the laws of nature. Moreover, you also have the Water Spirit Evil Body… All those years ago, you managed to forcibly skip four levels of the World Ode of the Phoenix and comprehend the fifth and sixth level of it, so forcibly cultivating the Frozen End Divine Art was the much easier feat by far.” Jasmine explained in a bland voice. However, she had not mentioned any of this before Yun Che had returned to the Profound Sky Continent, she only felt that the Frozen End Divine Art seemed somewhat familiar.
“However, whether it was you or Xia Qingyue, even though the Frozen End Divine Art that the both of you use far outstrips that of any normal ice-based profound art, it is merely a pale shadow of the true Frozen End Divine Art… but if you think about it, the true ‘Frozen End Divine Art’ is a primordial divine art that is on the same level as the World Ode of the Phoenix!”
“On the same level as the… World Ode of the Phoenix?” Yun Che exclaimed in shock. He had rarely used the Frozen End Divine Art after he had learned it because even though it could produce several peculiar effects in certain situations, in terms of raw strength it was far weaker than the World Ode of the Phoenix or the Golden Crow’s Record of the Burning World. If their strength was supposed to be on the same level… then did it also mean that the primordial divine beast who passed it down was an existence that was on the same level as the Phoenix?”
“During the Primordial Era of the Gods, the Vermillion Bird, the Phoenix and the Golden Crow were the three supreme fire attribute beasts. The element of water also had three supreme rulers as well, and that was the Blue Dragon, the Ice Phoenix and the Ice Qilin! Ice was the form of water that possessed the most might, so the Ice Phoenix’s and Ice Qilin’s power was governed by ice. Only the Blue Dragon’s power was governed by water, so the power of its ice was inferior to that of the Ice Phoenix and the Ice Qilin.”
“Furthermore, this ‘Frozen End Divine Art’ is actually the primordial divine art that was passed down by the Ice Phoenix!”
“Ice… Phoenix?” This was the first time that Yun Che had ever heard that name, he replied in a low voice, “Phoenix… Ice Phoenix… Could it be a primordial divine beast that was related to the Phoenix but possessed a contrasting element instead? Since this was something that was passed down by the Frozen Cloud Ancestor, Mu Bingyun, then it means that she could cultivate it, which in turn means… that she received the inheritance of the Ice Phoenix Divine Beast?”
“So this means that besides the legacies of the Dragon God and the Phoenix, there is also a place in the Profound Sky Continent that contains the legacy of the Ice Phoenix?” Yun Che asked. If that was truly the case, then if he was able to find out where the legacy of the Ice Phoenix Divine Beast was concealed and obtain either the blood or the soul of the Ice Phoenix, his own Frozen End Divine Art would definitely receive a huge boost in power. Frozen Cloud Asgard would also then be able to ascend to even greater heights.
“Heh…” Jasmine naturally knew exactly what Yun Che was thinking of and she replied in a disinterested voice, “And how do you know that she obtained the legacy of the Ice Phoenix on the Profound Sky Continent?”
“I can definitively confirm one thing for you, this world definitely does not contain the legacy of the Ice Phoenix. If my conjectures are accurate, Mu Bingyun lost all of her memories all those years ago, and after that, as she slowly recovered, she established the Frozen Cloud Asgard and left behind the Frozen End Divine Art. Yet, no one could cultivate it. After that, when she recovered her memories, she also remembered that the Frozen End Divine Art could not be learned by ordinary folk, so she created the far-inferior ‘Frozen Cloud Art’ which could be cultivated by normal people.
Yun Che, “….”
“But do keep in mind that everything that I’m saying is merely conjecture. The real truth is something that probably nobody knows, and there is no need for you to dig any deeper as well. All you need to know… is that asking them to learn the Frozen End Divine Art is merely a waste of time.”
After Jasmine had said her piece, she did not bother herself with him any further.
Yun Che stood there, staring blankly into space for a good long while. Jasmine’s words had clearly indicated that the Frozen Cloud Ancestor, Mu Bingyun, was not a person who belonged to the Profound Sky Continent.
No, Jasmine had said “in this world”, so she was not only referring to the Profound Sky Continent.
Could it be that the person who had created the Frozen Cloud Asgard was actually someone from another world!?
It was also clear that Jasmine knew something about it, but she did not intend to clarify it for him in the slightest.
“Asgard Master, we will continue to try for a while longer. But if we haven’t accomplished anything within a year, then the only option we have left is to give up.” Jun Lianqie said.
“If it’s the Frozen End Divine Art…” Yun Che looked for the right words before he opened his mouth to speak, “There are a few things about it that are quite unique, and there are a few hurdles that cannot be overcome by hard work or comprehension. It’s through no fault of your own that all of you are unable to cultivate it. Thus, let’s set aside the matter of cultivating the Frozen End Divine Art for now. Cultivate the Frozen Cloud Art to its highest level, its power should not be any weaker than the Frozen End Divine Art.”
“Yes, we will do as Asgard Master commands.” Currently, the entire Frozen Cloud Asgard had long ago began to regard Yun Che as a deity, and so his word had become law.
“Tomorrow morning, I will travel to Supreme Ocean Palace with Xue’er, so that we can attend the Devil Sword Conference. It will be roughly six or seven days before we can return. During this period of time, I will have to trouble Senior and Junior Masters to guide and supervise all the other disciples in building up their foundations. It would be best if they did not hastily attempt to cultivate the Frozen Cloud Art for the next two to three months.” Yun Che reminded them, “Other than that, if any accidents happen during this period of time, let me know immediately and I will rush back as soon as I can.”
“You’re leaving tomorrow?” The six of them huddled closer and Murong Qianxue glanced at Feng Xue’er before speaking, “I heard that the Devil Sword Conference will be a gathering of all the heroes of the realm, and the peak experts of the Four Great Sacred Grounds will all be present as well… when Asgard Master reaches that place, he must definitely be cautious.”
“Xue’er, we will have to trouble you to protect our Asgard Master.” There was a layer of worry that was hidden just beneath Murong Qianxue’s calm exterior… After all, it was a gathering that was on the level of a Sacred Ground. Even though Yun Che was strong, once he reached that place, there would be far too many people that were stronger than him.
Especially Sun Moon Divine Hall, who had a grudge against him…
After all, they were painfully aware that Yun Che’s “master” did not exist. The moment this flimsy pretence was laid bare, the consequences would be unimaginable.
“Mn, I will protect Big Brother Yun. Furthermore, we are not going to the Devil Sword Conference to do battle, so there shouldn’t be too much danger involved.” Feng Xue’er said with sweet laugh.
“…Asgard Master.” Chu Yueli hesitated for a while before stepping forward, “Qingyue has not sent us a sound transmission after all this time. Since the Devil Sword Conference is going to be a gathering of all the heroes of the realm, perhaps we might be able to find out some news from there?”
“Mn, I understand.’ Yun Che said as he nodded his head, but in his heart, he was aware that it was extremely likely that Xia Qingyue was not on the Profound Sky Continent anymore. Or else, she would have long ago attempted to make contact with Frozen Cloud Asgard.
And as for where exactly she ended up in… his desire to find out was stronger than anyone else’s.
————————————
At the same time. Illusory Demon Realm, Southeastern Region.
The normally quiet and peaceful mountain range had presently been transformed into a sea of fire. Startling explosions ripped through the air; they were so loud that they could be clearly heard within a fifty kilometer radius. The nearby mountains shook violently and seemed to be on the verge of collapse as boulders tumbled through the air.
“Duke Ming, you reprehensible traitor, stop resisting and accept your fate!!”
Mu Feiyan, Mu Yubai, Su Xiangnan and Lin Guiyan exerted all of their strength, profound light exploding from their bodies and their faces flushed red from the effort, as they tried their best to surround one man… Besides the four of them, there were still another eight people prowling in the background, waiting and preparing for the moment their prey attempted to escape the encirclement. Each and every one of these eight people was on the same level as a grand elder of a Guardian Family.
Any one of these twelve people could be counted amongst the most powerful practitioners within the Illusory Demon Realm. Such a startling array of strength had been assembled, all for the sake of one person…
Because that person was Duke Ming!!
“Hahahaha, you vermin think that you are worthy enough to force this duke to submit!?”
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!
When it came to desperate battles at the level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, every single profound energy explosion would contain earth-shattering might. As the battle raged on, the land in a hundred kilometer radius of the fight had been completely devastated, countless profound beasts were buried before they could even react to their demise.
Duke Ming had used the blood escape to flee from Demon Imperial City at that time, but that also caused him to lose a lot of his blood essence, greatly injuring his vitality. After that, he was constantly fleeing for his life, and he could barely find a moment to catch his breath. Given the power that Duke Ming had previously, even if Mu Feiyan and the others combined their strength, all four of them would still have tasted bitter defeat at his hands. But right now, they could actually suppress Duke Ming and prevent him from fleeing.
“Duke Ming, you old villain! This old man was truly befuddled and confused all those years ago! To think that I believed you instead of the Demon King, holding your words as truth and his words as false… Today, this old man needs to bury you personally!!” Mu Feiyan roared in fury as he and Mu Yubai forged an enormous ice-cold domain; Duke Ming was being assaulted by unending shards of ice every single second, and many bloody wounds had been gouged in his body.
“You want to bury this duke!? Hahahahaha… I will bury you first!!”
Duke Ming’s expression turned sinister as a wild laugh tore from his throat. His entire body suddenly glowed with a bloody light, and two enormous skulls made of red-black flames suddenly coalesced in the air above them before fiercely descending down from above.
“Patriarch Mu, be careful!!”
These were flame devils conjured by Duke Ming, so they possessed an incomparably terrifying might. Su Xiangnan’s heart was jolted by shock and he swiftly changed his angle of attack, a hundred thousand sword shadows instantly congealing into one sword as it thrust towards the flame devils, wild gales howling in its wake.
“Divine Wind Sword!!”
But as the two flame devils descended, they changed their trajectory midair. They no longer targeted Mu Feiyan, but rushed towards Lin Guiyan instead.
Boom!!
It would be extremely hard for Lin Guiyan to even fend off one flame devil, much less two of them. Lin Guiyan’s face blanched as he tried to endure the full might of the assault, but after a single breath, he let out a miserable cry as he was engulfed by crimson black flames. In the next instant, the attack had sent him flying, blood spraying in the air as he went.
Riip!!
Su Xiangnan’s Divine Wind Sword had opened a hole in Duke Ming’s shoulder, a bloody, gaping wound that one could see through. But the four man encirclement had been blasted wide open. Duke Ming had to eat this attack, but he let out a wild laugh instead as he took his opportunity to swiftly flee.
“Dammit… hurry up and restrain him!!” Mu Yubai roared.
The moment Mu Yubai yelled, the eight grand elders that had been lurking in the shadows simultaneously rushed towards Duke Ming. But Duke Ming had long been prepared for this moment, even before he had broken out of his encirclement. Before the two closest grand elders neared him, two clusters of crimson black flames suddenly exploded from his palms, their terrifying might instantly shattering the nearby space into fragments.
A wounded tiger was still a tiger after all. Duke Ming had been the strongest person in the entire Illusory Demon Realm at one point, so even though he had lost a lot of blood essence, causing his profound strength to fall dramatically, a grand elder from a Guardian Family would still find it exceedingly hard to restrain him.
Amidst the huge explosions, both of the Mu Family’s grand elders were tossed aside like ragdolls. By the time they had managed to regain control of their bodies, Duke Ming’s wild laughter already echoed from several hundred meters away.
“Shit… chase him! Quickly! It was really hard for us to pin down his location in the first place, so this time, we can’t let him escape no matter what!!” Mu Feiyan yelled shrilly. The Little Demon Empress had given them a time limit three months ago, and if they were not able to capture Duke Ming within three months, they would all have to sever a finger in apology.
Boom!
A dull and heavy explosion suddenly rang out in the distance as a golden light illuminated heaven and earth. Duke Ming’s wild laughter was abruptly cut off, and what replaced it was a miserable scream of pain.
Bang!!
Duke Ming was fiercely smashed from the air to the ground, a cluster of golden flames slowly burning on his chest. He rolled on the ground in pain as all of the crimson black flames on his body desperately surged forth. It took several seconds before they could finally suppress and extinguish those golden flames. He raised his head to the sky, and his eyes showed a fear that he had rarely displayed in his lifetime.
A figure clad in rainbow colors slowly descended from the air above. Her figure was petite and delicate, her exquisite features were so beautiful that they would cause the sun and the moon to lose their luster, but those delicate, slanted brows held an incomparable dignity and majesty that caused all to tremble before her.
Her appearance seemed to cause the entire world to stop in place, and even the sound of the roaring flames had completely disappeared.
Chapter 766 - Crippling Duke Ming
“Li… Little Demon Empress!” Duke Ming held a hand to his chest, his entire body trembling uncontrollably… he had been strong enough to arrogantly look down upon the entire world, so he did not want to display fear in front of anyone, but right now his body betrayed him as it shivered uncontrollably…
Because his body had clearly felt the approach of death itself.
The moment Lin Guiyan, who had been sorely wounded by Duke Ming, saw the Little Demon Empress, he ignored the blood streaming from his mouth as he hurriedly knelt down to the ground and said in a quavery voice, “I greet the Little Demon Empress!!”
The ones who had been marked with the Slave Imprint had all become the loyal dogs of the Little Demon Empress.
“We greet the Little Demon Empress.”
All of those present paid their respects to her. Mu Feiyan quickly strode forward, bowing towards her as he said, “With the Little Demon Empress personally taking a hand in this, Duke Ming will find it hard to flee even if he suddenly grows wings!” His eyes swiveled towards Duke Ming and he barked out a furious command, “Restrain the traitor!!”
Before the words had even finished escaping his lips, Mu Yubai, Su Xiangnan and the eight grand elders moved in unison, but this time, a clear and indifferent voice rang across the intervening space, “Withdraw, nobody is allowed to interfere.”
A shudder passed through Mu Yubai and the others. They ground to a halt in panic and began to scramble backwards.
It was clear that the Little Demon Empress wanted to kill Duke Ming herself… to use his blood to quench the hatred and need for vengeance of the Illusory Demon Imperial Family.
Even though Duke Ming was strong, given the Little Demon Empress’ current strength, killing him would be as easy as swatting a fly.
Right before this, the world had been filled with explosions that seemed to come from hell itself but right now, that same world was deathly silent. The Little Demon Empress’ eyes bored into Duke Ming, her flat and emotionless expression bearing no trace of rage or indignation, no signs of joy or sorrow. Yet everyone who was present felt a pressure building up in their hearts and souls and found it hard to even breathe.
“Huan Caiyi…” The terrifying silence caused Duke Ming to feel as if his chest was about to explode. In the end, he could no longer endure it and croaked out hoarsely, “This duke… really regrets deciding not to simply kill you one hundred years ago!”
“Hmph, you’re about to die yet you still dare to spout such arrogance!” Mu Feiyan rebuked him furiously.
The Little Demon Empress did not say anything, and she also did not get agitated by Duke Ming. She slowly and gently raised her petite and exquisite little hand, her tender white palm pointed in Duke Ming’s direction.
This simple gesture of hers caused Duke Ming’s pupils to suddenly contract. He let out a fierce and desperate howl, both his palms thrusting outwards as all of the profound energy in his body crazily surged forth. Fallen Devil Flames raged throughout the sky as Duke Ming thrust them towards the Little Demon Empress with a yell.
If the extremely dense Fallen Devil Flames released their full might, they were able to reduce a city to ashes within a matter of minutes.
The Little Demon Empress’ face did not even twitch; it remained completely emotionless, but a golden light flashed in the center of her brows. She pushed her little hand forward lightly and a brilliant golden light covered the sky. Golden Crow flames began igniting furiously as they moved against the Fallen Devil Flames. Every time the terrifying and sinister Fallen Devil Flames came into contact with the Golden Crow flames, they reacted in the same way as a devil touched by holy light. The Fallen Devil Flames let out an ear-piercing shriek, trying to flee away as they were distorted and quickly consumed…
“Hahahahahaha…” Duke Ming’s hoarse and wild laughter could be heard behind the cover of the Fallen Devil Flames, “Huan Caiyi… you think that you are able to kill this duke… stop dreaming!!”
Pfft!!
A large cloud of blood violently sprayed out from Duke Ming’s mouth, the blood mist fell from the sky and poured over him, causing his entire body to slowly become transparent as he began to… disappear within the bloody mist.
“It is the Blood Escape!!” Mu Yubai yelled in shock. During that time in the Demon Imperial City, Duke Ming had used this marvelous and strange Blood Escape to slip through the Little Demon Empress’ grasp.
The Fallen Devil Flames that Duke Ming had used to attack the Little Demon Empress at full force were only to obstruct her. His real motive had been to pull the same trick once more, and run away using the Blood Escape… the Blood Escape was conjured by spending blood essence, but using it also came with disastrous consequences. If it was not a life-or-death scenario, he definitely would not even contemplate using it. Moreover, the two times that he did use it were when he was facing the Little Demon Empress… because if he did not pay this terrible price, the only outcome waiting for him would be a miserable death!
“Hmph!!”
The Little Demon Empress’ eyes, which were brighter and more beautiful than a full moon, narrowed slightly. She gave a faint but cold snort as the flames all around her flashed and in an instant, they pierced through the layered Fallen Devil Flames. She sketched a small gesture with her hand as she pointed towards the location where Duke Ming had just vanished from.
When they had searched the hidden sanctuary that had been buried underneath Duke Huai Palace, they had also managed to find the forbidden Blood Escape technique. And given the long period of time that she had to study the technique, she had already grasped its entirety. Therefore, Duke Ming was the person who was dreaming if he thought that he could use the Blood Escape to flee from the Little Demon Empress once more.
Bang!!!
Flames exploded everywhere as the very air itself was explosively torn apart. Amidst the exploding spatial fragments they could see Duke Ming, who had already disappeared, being hurled screaming back out. His body smashed heavily against the ground, his entire body twitching and spasming. He glanced at the Little Demon Empress’s ice-cold face and his entire body started trembling in fear. His expression warped into one of abject terror, as if he had seen a ghost.
“You… could not possibly… could not possibly…” Duke Ming stuttered, his face and lips losing all their color. Given his might and power, if he went all out in a fight against the Little Demon Empress, he could definitely still hold his own for a period of time. But when he used the Blood Escape technique, he had lost a lot of blood essence. Not only did this injure his innate strength, it would also put him in a severely weakened state for the next few days.
At this time, even a single Mu Yubai could consign Duke Ming to death with a twitch of his fingers, much less the Little Demon Empress.
The first time he had used the Blood Escape, he had managed to run away successfully.
This time, not only had he not succeeded in his endeavor, he had even wasted all of that blood essence for nothing, putting himself in even more dire straits.
The Little Demon Empress’ eyes were like two chips of ice. Her hand lifted up and fell again, as a cluster of golden flames mercilessly struck the location of Duke Ming’s dantian.
Boom!!
The flames blew apart and the ruthless Golden Crow flames crazily surged into Duke Ming’s profound veins. The flames mercilessly incinerated the profound veins that had been drastically weakened by his loss of blood essence… Duke Ming’s incomparably miserable and wretched howls rang out into the sky, they were so shrill that he felt like his throat was about to be ripped apart. Moreover, all the profound strength and profound arts that he had painstakingly cultivated for nearly a thousand years were being swiftly burned away by those cruel Golden Crow flames…
The faces of everyone present warped in fear as a bone-tingling chill was sent down their spines… For people on their level, having one’s profound strength crippled was a fate even more dreadful than death.
The Golden Crow flames only stopped burning once they reduced Duke Ming’s profound veins to cinders. Duke Ming did not lose consciousness, but he had lost nearly all his profound strength, so his ability to endure pain was only a small fraction of what it had been before. His face was so distorted that he looked like an evil spirit and his body was curled up into a fetal position. From his trembling lips, he issued a voice that was incomparably weak but also extremely malicious, “Huan Caiyi… even if this duke… descends into the depths of the netherworld… I… will never let you off!!”
“I’m afraid you won’t have the chance.” The Little Demon Empress said, her voice so cold that it cut to the bone, “Because once you reach the netherworld, the ancestors of our Illusory Demon Imperial Family will not let you off either, and neither will the ancestors of all the Guardian Families. In fact, even your own ancestors will not have mercy on you!!”
“ARGHHHHHHHH!!” Duke Ming’s blood-curdling howl of frustration and hate was as desolate and hopeless as any demon’s.
The Little Demon Empress raised a palm and she made a simple gesture with her finger as four beams of fire shot towards Duke Ming’s arms and legs. They instantly charred his limbs black and one last beam of fire shot directly into his mouth, causing all of his teeth to explode… and before the fragments could even fall to the ground, they had already been burned up in midair.
Duke Ming’s eyes rolled back as his whole body went rigid and he directly passed out due to the extreme pain.
It was during a warm spring afternoon, but Mu Yubai and the rest who were watching felt their entire bodies go cold. They had slowly and cautiously crept closer… but Duke Ming’s miserable state did not elicit the slightest bit of pity from them.
Because the sins that he had committed could not be repaid even if the cruelest punishments on the earth was inflicted on him!
“Little Demon Empress, why didn’t you kill him?” Mu Feiyan asked cautiously. The Little Demon Empress had not taken Duke Ming’s life, she had only crippled his profound strength.
Moreover, she had also destroyed all four of his limbs and all of his teeth, so he would not be able to take his own life even if he wanted to.
“He caused my royal father to die, killed my royal brother, brought the clan of the Demon Emperors to the brink of extinction, nearly consigned the Yun Family to the abyss, and plunged our entire Illusory Demon Realm into a hundred years of chaos… With crimes of this magnitude, killing him like this would simply be doing him a favor!”
“Oh, I won’t let him die. In fact, this empress will make sure that he lives on no matter what! For the next hundred years! And during these hundred years, this empress will ensure that each and every day, every single second of his life, will be filled with the cruelest and most painful tortures imaginable!”
Mu Feiyan fiercely fought down the shudder that threatened to course through his body.
Everyone else felt their bodies tense up and they dared not even breathe too loudly.
“Furthermore, as Yun Che has said before. A living person is far more useful than a dead person can ever be.” The Little Demon Empress glanced to the side and did not spare Duke Ming a further glance, “Patriarch Mu, how much longer will it be before the Yun Family’s Space Splitting Ring can be used again?”
Mu Feiyan’s words practically tumbled over each other as he replied, “This old man has personally confirmed this sound transmitted with Yun Qinghong yesterday. Within ten days, the Space Splitting Ring will be fully operational. After that, it can make a single trip to the Profound Sky Continent.”
“Ten days?” The Little Demon Empress asked, her brows faintly creasing.
“Ten days was the conservative estimate. At this present moment, the Yun Family is doing all that they can to restore the Space Splitting Ring’s functionality. The various Duke Palaces are also doing all that they can to assist the Yun Family so I believe that it will be shorter than the estimated ten days… Pardon my impudence, but once the Space Splitting Ring becomes operational again, can this old man also accompany you on your trip?” Mu Feiyan asked cautiously. He also missed Yun Che very much.
“There is no need!” The Little Demon Empress said, giving a flourish of her robe as she turned around and floated into the air, “This empress will make this trip alone!”
The Little Demon Empress’ figure wavered like a misty cloud, but in the blink of an eye, she had already disappeared into the distance. It was only then that Mu Feiyan let out a heavy sigh of relief. He gave Duke Ming a glance before spitting out a few words, “Capture this evil traitor and drag him back to the Demon Imperial City! Remember, we need to reserve some profound energy to stabilize his wounds, we must definitely not allow him to die.”
“To think that the Little Demon Empress wants to venture forth to the Profound Sky Continent by herself.” Mu Yubai mused as he walked over, his expression strange.
“This actually isn’t that surprising. To the people of the Illusory Demon Realm, that is an extremely dangerous place. Every additional person means that there will be one additional source of possible trouble and danger. Contrary to expectations, it would actually be safer for the Little Demon Empress if she went by herself. This old man believes that given the Little Demon Empress’ current power, there isn’t anyone on the Profound Sky Continent that can pose a threat to her.” Mu Feiyan said truculently
“Heh heh.” Su Xiangnan chuckled as he walked over as well, his tone thick with suggested meaning, “The Little Demon Empress is extremely worried about dear nephew Yun Che. Every time she meets Patriarch Mu or Brother Yun, she will definitely ask about the Space Splitting Ring. So it seems like the relationship between our Little Demon Empress and our dear nephew is most certainly not only the ‘Golden Crow Divine God’s will’.”
“Tsk, tsk! For someone like Yun Che, there are only girls who are unworthy of him. There will never be a girl that he can’t match up to, so the intensity of the feelings that the Little Demon Empress has for him is simply the way things should be. After all, just whose grandson is he? Hahahahaha!!”
Mu Feiyan placed both hands behind his back, striding forward as he roared in laughter. Every time he either thought or mentioned his grandson, his face would turn ruddy and he would release a vigorous and hearty aura.
————————————————
Profound Sky Continent, Divine Incense Nation.
Divine Incense Nation was located at the southern part of the Profound Sky Continent and it was also the location that was closest to the Profound Sky Southern Ocean. Thus, it was also the country closest to Supreme Ocean Palace.
It was early in the morning and the sky had just started to light up. Yun Che and Feng Xue’er were sitting in the Primordial Profound Ark, having teleported from the Frozen Cloud Asgard to Divine Incense Nation in the blink of an eye.
“Grandfather said that Divine Incense Nation is known for growing a mysterious plant called ‘Thousand Fragrance’, and the fragrance of this plant would spread very far. So one can smell this fragrance everywhere in the Divine Incense Nation, and it is also possible that this is how the name Divine Incense Nation came about in the first place.”
Yun Che flew steadily in the direction of the Southern Ocean, as he wracked his brains for any stories about Divine Incense Nation that he could tell to Feng Xue’er.
The reason they had not directly teleported into the Southern Ocean Region was naturally to prevent the existence of the Primordial Profound Ark from being exposed.
“I will soon be able to see royal father once more. After leaving Lord Phoenix God, this is the first time I have left royal father’s side for so long. I wonder how he’s been doing during this period.” Feng Xue’er said softly.
The sky grew brighter and brighter and the moment the warm sun finally appeared in the eastern sky, the boundless blue ocean also appeared in their vision.
The Profound Sky Southern Ocean!
One thousand five hundred kilometers to the south of the border of the Profound Sky Southern Ocean lay one of the Four Great Sacred Grounds—Supreme Ocean Palace.
Chapter 767 - Floating Ocean Palace
Not long after flying over the coastline and reaching the airspace of the Southern Ocean, a peculiar blue radiance finally appeared in the vision of Yun Che and Feng Xue’er… emitting this blue glow was a not so large island.
“This is it, let’s descend.”
Yun Che pulled on Feng Xue’er’s little hand, and together, they descended onto the island. As Feng Xue’er raised her hand and gently touched her face, her absolute beauty which eclipsed the world suddenly appeared from below the layer of satin.
Yun Che retrieved the hexagonal jadestone which Ji Qianrou had given him from within his Sky Poison Pearl. This jadestone was specifically a piece of Sea God Jade. It had been engraved with the invitation for and date of the Devil Sword Conference, as well as the directions to Supreme Ocean Palace.
Arriving atop the island, a cool, refreshing sea breeze blew over as if greeting them. The entirety of the small island was empty, but when Yun Che and Feng Xue’er had descended, two figures appeared in front of them like ghosts.
“Have the two of you come for the Devil Sword Conference? If so, please show your Sea God Jade. If not, leave!”
Both of them wore blue clothes and had stiff expressions. Although respectful, there was still a clear trace of undisguised arrogance and pride.
This was because they were the disciples of Supreme Ocean Palace! Although all of the visitors this time were the most powerful practitioners and forces amongst the Profound Sky Continent, the only ones who could be considered to be on equal footing with them atop the continent were those from the other three sacred grounds. Thus, unless they met someone from one of the other three sacred grounds, they wouldn’t retract their arrogance even the slightest bit.
The Four Great Sacred Grounds were the ruling figures within the Profound Sky Continent. It was a position they had held onto for tens of thousands of years without the slightest bit of weakness.
Yun Che didn’t bother to reply and directly took out his Sea God Jade. Right when he was about to throw it to one of the disciples, a familiar voice bearing extreme joy suddenly emanated over from behind as it breezed over with the wind.
“Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law!”
Yun Che and Feng Xue’er simultaneously turned around. Yuanba was quickly flying over from the southeast in an impressive manner. Besides him, there was also an old man wearing white robes who exuded an unique demeanor… it was none other than Spiritual Master Ancient Blue who he had met so many years ago in Divine Phoenix Nation.
Xia Yuanba landed on the ground first and quickly rushed in front of Yun Che, his face full of excitement as he said, “I’m way too lucky, to be able to actually meet brother-in-law here! Hehe, I see Little Sister Xue’er also came.”
“Yuanba, how come you and your master have come alone? Where are the rest of the sanctuary’s people?” Yun Che casually asked after patting Xia Yuanba’s shoulder. Being so close to Yuanba, Yun Che could clearly feel just how much stronger Yuanba had become from their last meeting…
Moreover, it had been an extremely great increase.
The Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins… Jasmine’s so called “unparalleled Tyrannical Divine Veins”!
“Oh, the major party from the sanctuary set out two days before us. Recently, I just had another small breakthrough, so master and I left later.” Xia Yuanba chuckled as he spoke. From his tone, it was clear that he was incredibly happy to see Yun Che
“So it was like this.” Yun Che slowly nodded as he silently thought: I myself arrived nearly four days early, but Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s people actually arrived even earlier due to the Saint Emperor’s order. It seems that the Four Great Sacred Grounds are also extremely interested in this sword, huh.
After all, towards all those respected, powerful practitioners who had been stuck at the peak of the Sovereign Profound Realm for hundreds to thousands of years, the words “secrets of the Divine Profound” contained an irresistible attraction.
Upon seeing Spiritual Master Ancient Blue, the two Ocean Palace disciples no longer cared about Yun Che and Feng Xue’er, and instead quickly walked forward to greet him. The arrogance on their faces had disappeared without a trace as they saluted in an extremely respectful and humble manner. They simultaneously greeted, “Junior Ocean Palace disciples Du Changming and Gong Kaichuan greet Spiritual Master Ancient Blue.”
Spiritual Master Ancient Blue slightly flicked the whisk in his hand as he faintly smiled and nodded his hand. Afterwards, he directly moved towards Yun Che, chuckling as he said, “Little friend Yun, when we met in the past, this old one believed that you would become a dragon in the future. Today, only three short years later, you have already become a true golden scaled dragon which can look down on the heavens. Even this old one cannot help but shower you with praise, ha ha ha ha.”
“Junior Yun Che greets Senior Ancient Blue. This junior feels ashamed to be praised so highly by Senior Ancient Blue,” Yun Che respectfully greeted as a faint smile emerged on his face.
While Spiritual Master Ancient Blue spoke to Yun Che, his eyes slightly moved, sweeping over the figure of Feng Xue’er beside Yun Che. As he did so, his pupils and face momentarily stiffened. Even his footsteps had obviously paused for a moment.
The higher one’s profound energy, the longer one would live. Thus, one simply couldn’t use appearance to judge the age of a powerful profound practitioner. However, even though appearances could be kept youthful, profound practitioners with enough experience could still roughly guess a person’s age from their aura.
Using this method, Ancient Blue perceived that the girl beside Yun Che was only in her twenties. At the very least, she was definitely younger than Xia Yuanba.
However, her profound aura was actually…
Sovereign Profound Realm… eighth level!?
This greatly surprised him, but he then immediately thought of a person… and the ridiculous, unbelievable rumors which had been recently floating around.
Could it be that those rumors… were actually true?
Spiritual Master Ancient Blue’s gaze fixated on Feng Xue’er’s figure as he suddenly asked with difficulty, “This little friend, could it be that you are Divine Phoenix Sect’s Princess Snow?”
In the face of the question, Feng Xue’er courteously replied, “Junior Feng Xue’er greets Senior Ancient Blue Cang.”
“Mn.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue slowly nodded. However, the waves in his heart took much longer to suppress. He heavily sighed then said, “Ah, the younger generation will truly surpass the older one. Even after living these thousand years, it seems like I have still been a frog in a well this entire time, hoho.”
The moment Yun Che had revealed his name, the expressions of the two Supreme Ocean Palace disciples drastically changed as a great fear arose amidst their panic. The two of them looked at each other, then hurriedly walked forward towards Yun Che and saluted him while saying in a respectful tone, “So… so esteemed guest is actually the Asgard Master of Blue Wind Nation’s Frozen Cloud Asgard. Although we have eyes, just now we were unable to recognize Mount Tai and acted poorly. We hope Asgard Master Yun will be magnanimous enough to tolerate our errors.”
This huge change in attitude slightly surprised Yun Che as he waved his hand and said, “I am only but a junior. Moreover, this is Supreme Ocean Palace, so you two don’t have to be so polite with me.”
“No no,” an Ocean Palace disciple quickly shook his head, “The great Sovereign of the Seas personally stated that Asgard Master Yun was a distinguished guest of our palace, and that we should treat you with extreme respect. Just now, I…”
“Ah, understood, understood.” Yun Che flourished his hand again, “Forget about all of these useless matters, just directly take us to the teleportation formation.”
“Alright… guests, please follow us.”
At the center of the little island was a profound spatial formation which released a greenish-blue glow. Of all the various types of profound formations, profound spatial formations had the greatest rate of consumption. However, they were nonetheless extremely precious because this spatial profound formation allowed one to directly travel across a distance of fifteen hundred kilometers. In the entirety of Profound Sky Continent, there were very few of these profound spatial formations.
“Four esteemed guests, after entering this profound formation, you will be directly transported to an island called ‘Ocean Eye Isle.’ If you travel another fifty kilometers south from Ocean Eye Isle, you will arrive at the ocean palace. Great Elder is already there personally waiting to welcome you all.”
As they activated the array, the two ocean palace disciples respectfully explained everything. As for their eyes, they focused less on the figure of Spiritual Master Ancient Blue, and instead constantly stole glances at Yun Che and Xia Yuanba.
The blue light within the profound formation flickered, and suddenly, the scene before Yun Che momentarily turned into a plane of whiteness before changing into a different view of a blue ocean.
“We’ve arrived. This place must be the Ocean Eye Isle that those two disciples talked about. The ocean palace should be fifty kilometers south of here.”
Spiritual Master Ancient Blue was the first to exit the profound formation as he spoke with a chuckle. Yun Che and the other two all suddenly subconsciously looked south, their mouths simultaneously opening as similar exclamations of shock came out.
“Waah… wow!”
“Is that… Supreme Ocean Palace?” Xia Yuanba’s eyes had grown huge as he stared. This was also his first time coming to Supreme Ocean Palace.
Their eyes were all stuck on a circular island veiled by a cover of light blue light which filled the entire airspace south of them. Unlike other ordinary islands which floated atop the ocean, this island… floated in the sky, high above the ocean!
From their point of view, the giant palace was around three to four thousand meters above the ocean!
“My royal father once said that Supreme Ocean Palace is eternally floating in the sky… to think that it was so mystical,” Feng Xue’er mumbled softly.
“…To continuously keep such a large island afloat in the sky, must be very expensive,” Yun Che said as he looked south.
“Hehe, naturally.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue nodded and then said with a chuckle, “From north to south, this floating island is forty five kilometers long. From east to west, it is thirty five kilometers long. Although this floating island is the smallest amongst the Four Great Sacred Grounds and is even smaller than Divine Phoenix Sect’s Divine Phoenix City, its magnificence and aura are unparalleled under the heavens. Moreover, the number of profound crystals spent every year to keep it afloat is astronomical.”
“Big Brother Yun, let’s hurry and go. I really want to see what Supreme Ocean Palace looks like. Even just looking at it from afar has already caused me to feel that it is much more magnificent than what my royal father said about it.” Feng Xue’er very naturally grabbed Yun Che’s arm as her cheeks became flushed pink from the excitement.
“I am also interested now. Let’s go!” Extending his arms, Yun Che wrapped them around Feng Xue’er’s thin waist as the two simultaneously flew into the sky and directly towards the mystical floating island.
“Hey, hey, wait for me brother-in-law!” Xia Yuanba jumped, suddenly traversing hundreds of meters as he quickly caught up with Yun Che.
“Hoho,” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue warmly laughed as he followed closely behind the three. As he watched their backs, the smile on his face slowly disappeared and became replaced by an increasingly complicated expression.
This was because the three youths in front of him were impressively the three most talented youths of the young generation within the Profound Sky Continent!
Furthermore, each one had abilities which were truly able to shock the world, surpassing the ancients and amazing the current generations.
Xia Yuanba’s body contained the Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins. These veins that he had been naturally born with had contained a great power which even he himself couldn’t control. However, now that he had awoken them, the degree of growth of his profound strength had shocked even the Saint Emperor of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary… his Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins were even many times more powerful than any of the previous instances of Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins recorded in the history of the Profound Sky Continent!
If Xia Yuanba could enter the sixth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm before he turned twenty two, he would be making history within the Profound Sky Continent.
Others thought that becoming the disciple of Ancient Blue would be the fortune of a lifetime. However, Spiritual Master Ancient Blue had always deeply felt that having obtained such a talented Xia Yuanba as his disciple was his life’s greatest fortune.
However, today, Feng Xue’er had appeared. She had yet to reach the age of twenty, yet she had already reached the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm! Xia Yuanba had actually been thoroughly defeated by her.
At least, it was like that for now.
However, the most shocking figure amongst the young generation was neither of those two, but instead… Yun Che!
Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue’er both had the terrifying talent and profound energy to break history. As for Yun Che… with profound strength at the Emperor Profound Realm, he was yet able to display power comparable to a Sovereign Profound Realm practitioner. This was something which none of the peak practitioners were able to understand.
If one’s talent or profound art was was high enough, it was normal for one to crush those of the same level and challenge those levels above them.
However, throughout the entire history of the Profound Sky Continent, forget about an Emperor Profound being equal to a Sovereign Profound, even a Tyrant Profound being equal to a Sovereign Profound was unheard of.
What Spiritual Master Ancient Blue took to heart the most though was that whether it be Xia Yuanba or Feng Xue’er, these two future ruling figures of the Profound Sky Continent all had deep relations with and feelings for Yun Che. Needless to say, Ancient Blue knew Xia Yuanba’s reasons very clearly. Even if Xia Yuanba were to use his life to save Yun Che, Ancient Blue wouldn’t furrow his brow.
As for Feng Xue’er, this young girl who caused his heart and mind to be shocked to the point of turmoil, had an extremely intimate relation with Yun Che. Within her eyes, one could see a feeling of attachment which had already become a kind of habit.
The history in which the Four Great Sacred Lands had ruled over the continent… was it about to finally come to an end?
“Haah…” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue let out a long sigh, then opened his mouth and said, “Little friend Yun, I wonder if your respected master is interested in watching this Devil Sword Conference?”
Towards the Four Great Sacred Grounds, the name of Yun Che’s master, “Old Man Duotian”, was undoubtedly the name which astonished them the most.
Without an ounce of hesitation, Yun Che directly replied, “Master has long since been a person who doesn’t care about the mortal world. He already almost never sets foot into the mortal world as he doesn’t want to be bound by any responsibilities. Thus, although this junior is his disciple, I don’t know where my master is currently nor where he will go next. Only when this junior cannot help but beg will his master reveal himself.”
Yun Che’s response was quite clever and was something that he had thought of long before he had arrived. This was because upon arriving at Supreme Ocean Palace, he knew that there would definitely be people asking this question.
“I see.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue nodded.
“Senior Ancient Blue, when the people of Supreme Ocean Palace want to travel to the mainland, wouldn’t they all have to go through this teleportation profound formation we just went through?” In order to prevent Ancient Blue from asking too much and possibly finding a flaw in his response, Yun Che took the opportunity to ask a useless question he didn’t care about first.
“That’s not the case.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue then replied, “Very few of Supreme Ocean Palace’s people leave the ocean. However, when they do leave, it is through flying. In fact, it’s very possible that this teleportation profound formation was just temporarily built for for this Devil Sword Conference. After all, since the consumption of a spatial profound formation is so great, I’m afraid even the Supreme Ocean Palace is not able to maintain one.”
Seemingly seeing through Yun Che’s intentions, Spiritual Master Ancient Blue faintly chuckled. Still, he no longer asked Yun Che any questions about his master.
“Earlier, the two ocean palace disciples stated that the person welcoming guests was their Great Elder. The importance of this Devil Sword Conference for Supreme Ocean Palace must be extremely great if they are actually having their Great Elder personally welcome guests. To be a Great Elder of a sacred ground, his power and status must be only second to the Sovereign of the Seas within Supreme Ocean Palace,” Yun Che said after pondering.
“Supreme Ocean Palace’s Great Elder is called Mo Chenfeng.” Xia Yuanba continued, “However, within Supreme Ocean Palace, he isn’t necessarily second to only the Sovereign of the Seas as in Supreme Ocean palace, there are also the Seven Venerable Ones above him. They are the true seven strongest people of the Supreme Ocean Palace other than the Sovereign of the Seas.”
“Seven… Venerable Ones?” Yun Che turned around in astonishment.
“Within the Four Great Sacred Grounds, Elders aren’t necessarily the highest level of power. In Supreme Ocean Palace, there are still the Seven Venerable Ones above the Elders. Meanwhile, there are the Five Divine Envoys in Sun Moon Divine Hall and the Three Sword Attendants in Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. Our Absolute Monarch Sanctuary is the same. Above the Elders are the Twelve Spiritual Masters,” Xia Yuanba explained with great detail.
Chapter 768 - Summoned by the Sovereign of the Seas
Supreme Ocean Palace’s Seven Venerable Ones, Sun Moon Divine Hall’s Five Divine Envoys, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region’s Three Sword Attendants, and Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s Twelve Spiritual Masters… these were existences within the Four Great Sacred Grounds who were even higher than elders!
“…That year in Divine Phoenix City, I heard many people call Senior Ancient Blue ‘Spiritual Master’ so I believed that it was a special title for anyone who came from Absolute Monarch Sanctuary. But if it’s like you said, then that means Senior Ancient Blue is one of those Twelve Spiritual Masters?” Yun Che asked. His heart began to beat harder and harder… that year in Divine Phoenix City, he had already guessed that Ancient Blue’s status in Absolute Monarch Sanctuary was not low because of the way Feng Hengkong and the others treated him. Even the proud and arrogant Ye Xinghan and eccentric Ji Qianrou acted respectfully in his presence and didn’t dare act rashly. Moreover, Absolute Monarch Sanctuary had shown that they held Xia Yuanba in high regard because of the Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins in his body. In fact, there were even signs that he could possibly become the next Saint Master as his cultivation had always been guided by Ancient Blue and his strength and status were enough.
But now, he knew that the two words “Spiritual Master” in Ancient Blue’s title were actually amazing!
“That’s right, that’s right!” Xia Yuanba quickly nodded, “My master is one of the Twelve Spiritual Masters. He is ranked fifth amongst the twelve.”
“So it was like this.” Yun Che slowly nodded. Not only was Ancient Blue a Spiritual Master of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, he was ranked fifth…
This was to say, Spiritual Master Ancient Blue was ranked sixth within the entire Absolute Monarch Sanctuary! He was even more frightening than Yun Che had expected.
An odd glow silently appeared in Yun Che’s eyes as he looked back at Spiritual Master Ancient Blue in the distance. He whispered, “Yuanba, I have never asked you before, but just what is your master’s profound cultivation level?”
“Ninth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm,” Xia Yuanba replied without hesitation. Then, he patted his chest as he continued, “In the past, I felt master was extremely powerful, but if I’m given another ten years, I will definitely surpass him, hehehe.”
Spiritual Master Ancient Blue slightly shook his head behind them as he lightly smiled, his face showing a mixed expression of exasperation and pride.
For a master, having a disciple surpass them was a matter of great comfort and even pride. However, after living a thousand years and having reached a profound energy level which was enough to stand at the pinnacle of the world, it had become increasingly difficult for him to accomplish this matter… However, Xia Yuanba, the freak that he was, had only needed a short few years of time to rise from a weakling in the Elementary Profound Realm to where he was today in the Sovereign Profound Realm. Moreover, even now, he still had a rate of growth which shocked even the Saint Emperor.
For Yuanba to surpass Ancient Blue, it might not even take ten years. At that time, he might not have even reached thirty years old.
To be surpassed by a twenty some year old disciple as a thousand year old master, how could he not feel exasperated?
“Your master is actually so powerful. Are the rest of the twelve as strong as your master?” Yun Che asked.
To ask about the inner workings of a force, especially anything relating to how power was structured at the top of a force, was extremely avoided… this was also true for Absolute Monarch Sanctuary and the Four Great Sacred Grounds. However, Xia Yuanba didn’t have any qualms at all about Yun Che so he directly answered without thinking, “The Twelve Spiritual Masters are strictly ordered in terms of strength. The most powerful, Spiritual Master Bitter Pain, Spiritual Master Nine Lamentations, and Spiritual Master Detached Heart, are all mighty and powerful level ten Monarchs!”
“Level ten Monarchs?” A thought congealed in Yun Che’s mind… a level ten Monarch, the peak of the Sovereign Profound Realm and the pinnacle of strength which can be reached by a human atop the Profound Sky Continent!
In the current Illusory Demon Realm, the only person to have reached this level other than Little Demon Empress was Duke Ming!
Yet Absolute Monarch Sanctuary actually had three!
No, adding in the Saint Emperor, they had four!!
“Of the remaining nine Spiritual Masters, there are five ninth level Sovereign Profound Realm practitioners and four late stage eighth level Sovereign Profound Realm practitioners. As for the elders, the strongest is also at the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm.” Xia Yuanba continued.
“…” Frankly speaking, Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s strength had far surpassed Yun Che’s expectations and caused great waves in his heart. The terror of a force was absolutely not something which normal people could guess at. If not for Xia Yuanba, even Yun Che wouldn’t have been able to figure out that Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s strength had reached this point so easily. After thinking a while, Yun Che said, “So you’re saying that in order to be higher than an elder, one has to at least have the strength of late stage eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm. Also, of this kind of peerlessly powerful practitioner, your Absolute Monarch Sanctuary has twelve, Supreme Ocean Palace has seven, Sun Moon Divine Hall has five, and Mighty Heavenly Sword Region has three… Although Absolute Monarch Sanctuary is far far ahead of the other three sacred grounds in terms of strength, all four grounds are indeed worthy of their title as the Four Great Sacred Grounds.”
“It’s not quite as you think,” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue’s voice emanated over from behind them as he said in a gentle voice, “Spiritual Masters, Venerable Ones, Divine Envoys, and Sword Attendants are respectively the strongest twelve, seven, five, and three people of their sacred ground. However, these four entities are all independent of each other, thus the standard of strength of each entity is different.”
“Among Supreme Ocean Palace’s Seven Venerable Ones, two of them are at the tenth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, and the other five are all at the ninth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm. Great Elder Mo Chenfeng who was brought up earlier is at the late stage eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, and is the strongest practitioner among Supreme Ocean Palace’s forty eight elders.”
“Among Sun Moon Divine Hall’s Divine Envoys, the strongest two are also at the tenth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm. The latter three are all level nine Monarchs. The strength of its most powerful great elder is similar to that of Mo Chenfeng. Just according to the number of top level powerhouses, Sun Moon Divine Hall is weaker than Supreme Ocean Palace.”
“As for the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region… although they have the fewest number of high level Sovereigns, as well as Sovereigns in general, among the Four Great Sacred Grounds, their “Three Sword Attendants” are all at the tenth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm. In terms of strength, they are stronger than Supreme Ocean Palace and Sun Moon Divine Hall, and are equal to my Absolute Monarch Sanctuary.”
“…So it’s like this. I thank Senior Ancient Blue for openly enlightening me,” Yun Che said, turning around.
“Haha,” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue slowly shook his head and then quietly sighed, saying, “It’s rumored that your respected master has already obtained world-defying power. I’m afraid that we are nothing but insignificant clouds floating in the sky.”
“Where are Senior Ancient Blue’s words coming from?” Yun Che casually threw out a random thought as his heart sank a bit.
Within the Four Great Sacred Grounds, there was actually as many as fourteen people who had reached the peak of the Sovereign Profound Realm, and the tenth level at that! Moreover, it was likely that the leaders of the four sacred grounds had also reached the late stage of the tenth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm! They were definitely all no weaker than Duke Ming… if they weren’t already much much stronger in the first place.
As for those at the ninth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, there were more than twenty of them!
Meanwhile, the Twelve Guardian Families in the Illusory Demon Realm, which were comparable to the top forces of the Profound Sky Continent, didn’t have single level ten Monarch! They only had three level nine Monarchs! Within the Yun and Mu families, which he was most familiar with… the Mu Family’s most powerful practitioner was his uncle, Mu Feiyan, who was a level eight Monarch. As for the Yun Family, which had withered for a century, their strongest practitioner was only at the seventh level of the Sovereign Profound Realm.
Yun Che had long since realized that the Profound Sky Continent’s level of profound strength was greater than the Illusory Demon Realm’s. This was why the Four Sacred Grounds had been able to pressure the Twelve Guardian Families even within the Illusory Demon Realm and the Twelve Guardian Families didn’t dare take a step into the Profound Sky Continent.
These four forces which had legacies of tens of thousands of years and were titled “Sacred Grounds” were truly terrifying existences.
As they came increasingly close to the floating Ocean Palace, Yun Che asked Ancient Blue, “Senior Ancient Blue, I wonder if you have any understandings about the ‘Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’?”
“Moon Slaughter Devil Nest? What kind of place is that?” Xia Yuanba leaned over, his face full of curiosity.
“…” A trace of shock flickered across Spiritual Master Ancient Blue’s face. It was clear that he was surprised that Yun Che, who had never before come to Supreme Ocean Palace, actually knew this name. He prudently stared at Yun Che for a moment before slowly saying, “You actually know of the ‘Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’. In that case, you should also know why Supreme Ocean Palace perennially resides atop this blue ocean. However, outside of that, even I do not know much about the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. To us mortals, that place is an extremely taboo existence. You absolutely must not develop any curiosity towards it.”
“Why is that?” Yun Che furrowed his brows.
“Because it has existed for tens of thousands of years, but the enigma behind it still has yet to be unlocked.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue’s voice contained traces of seriousness as he continued, “Things which are unknown are often filled with unknown dangers. The longer an enigma remains unsolved, the more likely the dangers within are greater. This name ‘Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’, you should treat it as a false legend. Don’t try to get to the bottom of it… don’t even go close to it so as to avoid going beyond redemption.”
By the time Spiritual Master Ancient Blue finished speaking, Supreme Ocean Palace was already right in front of their eyes. He suddenly flailed his whisk, and immediately, a gentle wind surged from below, causing the four of them to quickly float forward, “We’ve arrived… let’s go in.”
As their bodies passed through a layer of light blue colored profound light, Yun Che brought along Feng Xue’er and gently descended atop the floating isle atop the blue ocean.
The very moment they entered Supreme Ocean Palace, the atmosphere surrounding them completely changed. Not the slightest trace of the ocean’s scent could be smelled, and the ocean breeze had completely disappeared… It was as if they had suddenly left an ocean world and entered into an independent, completely different world.
Below their feet were great numbers of profound jade, each of which released a faint, cold light. They were all priceless. Looking out into the distance, towers, halls, and courtyards of varying sizes mixed with a widespread amount of flourishing flora. Moreover, an unbelievably dense profound energy, which was filled with several times more vitality than usual, enshrouded the entire ocean palace.
This place was completely unlike an island, and even less like a “palace”. Instead, it was a magnificently luxurious city in the air!
“Such dense profound energy.” Jasmine’s voice transmitted into Yun Che’s mind, “Almost all of the Profound Sky Continent’s Monarchs have gathered here. It is really interesting.”
Yun Che, “…”
As the group of four expressed their astonishment towards the floating city, another figure appeared in the sky. In the blink of an eye, the figure arrived in front of them.
The figure was a pale white, short and fat old practitioner with a respectful expression. His speed was shockingly fast that not even Yun Che knew when he appeared in front of them.
The white old practitioner cupped his hands towards Spiritual Master Ancient Blue, a faint smile appearing on his face as he said, “So it was Spiritual Master Ancient Blue. Shu Chenfeng is busy with various tasks, so he is unable to welcome you.”
“Old Mo, it’s been a long time.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue lightly chuckled and nodded his head.
“This person should be Supreme Ocean Palace’s Great Elder Mo Chenfeng,” Xia Yuanba whispered by Yun Che’s ear.
Mo Chenfeng then turned to looked at Xia Yuanba. His face suddenly showed shock, “Now that I think of it, this fellow should be the famous one who has shocked the world with his Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins, Xia Yuanba, right? To have such a level of cultivation at such a young age, you are truly an unmatched divine figure who causes people to lament. The Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins have been recorded to have appeared several times on the Profound Sky Continent, but none of them have ever been taken as disciples. For Absolute Monarch Sanctuary to have been able to accept you, it is truly enviable.”
“Hoho,” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue lightly chuckled, but didn’t express an opinion.
Mo Chenfeng’s eyes then landed on Feng Xue’er’s figure. Right when he was about to open his mouth, his entire body suddenly quivered and his pupils fiercely contracted.
As even Spiritual Master Ancient Blue, with his thousand years of experiences, had been astonished upon seeing Feng Xue’er earlier, how could Mo Chenfeng fare any better?
Just now, Mo Chenfeng had showered Xia Yuanba in praise, calling him an “unmatched divine figure who caused people to lament.” However, the moment his spirit touched Feng Xue’er, he realized that she was even younger than Xia Yuanba, yet her profound strength had actually reached the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm.
She was at the same level of strength as himself, the Great Elder of Supreme Ocean Palace!
“Young lady… could you perhaps be Divine Phoenix Sect’s Princess Snow?” Mo Chenfeng asked, his voice cracking in a very obvious manner. As he questioned Feng Xue’er, his pair of hands subconsciously cupped together… as Supreme Ocean Palace’s Great Elder, he had a large amount of presence even in the Four Great Sacred Grounds. Thus, those who were qualified to be saluted by him within the Profound Sky Continent were quite rare, yet facing Feng Xue’er, he subconsciously entered a respectful state.
This was the respect shown to powerful practitioners by other profound practitioners. Although the two were both at the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, his age was a full fifty times Feng Xue’er’s age! Just because of this fact, he simply didn’t consider his cultivation to be on the same level as Feng Xue’er’s. There was a world of difference between them.
“Junior Feng Xue’er greets Great Elder Mo.” Feng Xue’er politely saluted.
Mo Chenfeng opened his mouth, but was unable to reply for the moment. Then, he suddenly realized that if this abnormally powerful girl was Feng Xue’er, the person beside her should be…
“Then… this young friend, are you Blue Wind Empire’s Frozen Cloud Asgard Master Yun Che?” Mo Chenfeng asked Yun Che, turning to face him. When the four of them had first arrived, he had only paid attention to Spiritual Master Ancient Blue’s aura. He had never thought that Yun Che, the person he had waited for so long for would arrive together with Spiritual Master Ancient Blue.
“This junior is indeed Yun Che, I greet Great Elder Mo.” Yun Che slightly nodded his head.
“…” Mo Chenfeng quietly took a big breath, then sighed and said, “Blue Wind Empire’s Frozen Cloud Asgard Master Yun, Divine Phoenix Sect’s Princess Snow, Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s Xia Yuanba, you three are the three most stunning figures in the young generation. For you all to have arrived at the same time, it has really surprised me.”
“Just now, I was quite rude, please enter!”
Under Mo Chenfeng’s personal guidance, the four walked into the ocean palace. Mo Chenfeng’s gaze constantly swept across the three youths as he incessantly sighed in his heart, “Of these three, one belongs to the Blue Wind Empire, one belongs to Divine Phoenix Sect. As for the latter, Xia Yuanba, it’s uncertain if his birthplace is Absolute Monarch Sanctuary.”
“Could the era of the Four Great Sacred Grounds… actually be about to meet its end?”
As thoughts flashed through his mind, he ended up with the same thought Ancient Blue had when he saw the three together.
Mo Chenfeng took out a light blue jadestone and his lips slightly moved. Clearly, he was sending a message to someone far away.
“Old Mo, the profound energy within the ocean palace is so thick, it’s something I’ve never experienced before. Although there are still several days till the Sword Conference begins, many of the invited have already arrived, right?” asked Spiritual Master Ancient Blue.
Mo Chenfeng slowly nodded his head, “You’re right. It seems many profound practitioners are fascinated by the secrets of the ‘Devil Sword’.”
Yun Che silently sneered… Your Four Great Sacred Grounds are most fascinating! As for the other forces… Heh, who would have to courage to dare to refuse the “invitation” of the Four Sacred Grounds.
Mo Chenfeng turned and said to Feng Xue’er, “Princess Snow, Divine Phoenix Sect sent your respected father over this time, and he has been here for several days already. He is currently residing in the Flame Heart Palace in front of us. I wonder… ha ha, I wonder if Princess Snow wants to also reside in Flame Heart Palace, or if she wants to reside with little friend Yun?”
“I definitely want to live together with Big Brother Yun.” Feng Xue’er replied without hesitation… moreover, she clearly didn’t realize any of the implications. This was because she wasn’t the slightest bit interested in the Devil Sword Conference. Her reason for coming here with Yun Che this time was to protect him, and naturally to live together with him.
“Then, it shall be as Princess Snow wishes.” Mo Chenfeng nodded. At this time, the blue jadestone in his hand shimmered, causing him to stop in his steps and turn towards Yun Che, “Little friend Yun, the Sovereign of the Seas told me a few days ago to notify her of your arrival right away. Just now, upon learning of your arrival ocean palace, the sovereign immediately dropped all the matters currently at hand and requested that I bring you over, no matter how.”
“The Sovereign of the Seas is already waiting for us at the Ocean Imperial Palace in front of us. Before going to your residence, please come meet the Sovereign of the Seas with me.”
“My pleasure.” Yun Che naturally had no reason to decline.
For him to enter the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, he first had to gain the agreement of Supreme Ocean Palace’s Sovereign of the Seas.
Chapter 769 - Ocean Palace’s Sacred Master
“Lan Zi, Lan Shen, bring these two esteemed guests from Absolute Monarch Sanctuary to Divine Ocean Palace. Also, make sure you personally accommodate them, they must not be neglected.”
Heeding Mo Chenfeng’s summons, two female ocean palace disciples approached and deeply bowed, “As you wish, Great Elder… two esteemed guests, this way please.”
“Why does the Sovereign of the Seas want to meet my brother-in-law?” Amidst Xia Yuanba’s curiosity, there was also a trace of apprehension… after all the Sovereign of the Seas was the leader of one of the Four Great Sacred Grounds of Profound Sky Continent. She was someone who was on the same level as the Saint Emperor!
“Since the Sovereign of the Seas personally summoned him, you shouldn’t ask too much.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue grabbed Xia Yuanba’s shoulders, continuing, “Relax, nothing bad will happen to him. It’s even less likely he will encounter any danger.” He then turned his eyes away to gaze profoundly at Yun Che, “To get the Sovereign of the Seas to want to meet him so badly… and he’s a junior at that. This must be a first in the history of the Ocean Palace.”
“Brother-in-law, then… then I will leave first to go to the Saint Emperor’s side. You must make sure to stay safe. If anything happens, you must notify me as soon as possible.”
As he said those words, Xia Yuanba was half dragged away by Spiritual Master Ancient Blue.
“Hoho, I heard long ago that Asgard Master Yun’s relationship with Xia Yuanba was very good, even better than blood relatives though you are not. It seems it is indeed true.” Mo Chenfeng said with a light chuckle. However, his mind had been suddenly thrown into disarray… in the future, these two would both become figures who would shake the world, yet their relationship was like that of true blood brothers. For the sacred grounds, which had ruled the world for ten thousand years, this was definitely not a good thing.
“Princess Snow, Ocean Imperial Palace is the most sacred ground of my ocean palace. Without being invited by the Sovereign of the Seas, no one can enter. Just now, the Sovereign of the Seas only allowed this old one to bring Asgard Master Yun in. Currently, this old one is arranging for several disciples to bring Princess Snow to her residence, is that alright? Princess Snow, if you want, you may go meet your family in Flame Heart Palace first.”
Mo Chenfeng’s mind was set, but facing Feng Xue’er, he couldn’t help but subconsciously show a respectful attitude. Feng Xue’er’s profound strength was just too shocking.
“I don’t want to.” Feng Xue’er shook her head as both hands grabbed onto Yun Che’s arm with no intention of letting go, “If I cannot go in, then I will just wait outside for Big Brother Yun.”
“That is also fine,” Mo Chenfeng nodded, but his heart had tightened fiercely just now.
This Yun Che, just what kind of monster was he… his own talent was already terrifying, and he had a heaven defying master behind him as well. Moreover, of the two most talented and shocking figures among the young generation, one held him as a relative while the other had deep feelings for him…
Currently, the three of them were all around twenty years of age, which made it all the more shocking. If they were given another hundred years… no, with their rate of growth, they wouldn’t even need a hundred years. By that time, even the Four Great Sacred Grounds would all need to bow before them.
Mo Chenfeng secretly took a deep breath, then out walked in front, “Please follow me.”
As they walked further into the depths of Supreme Ocean Palace, the profound energy became increasingly thicker. Currently almost all of the high level experts of Profound Sky Continent had congregated within Supreme Ocean Palace, yet the entire ocean palace was extremely quiet. There was no clamor. In fact, during their whole journey, they hadn’t met any practitioners outside of the stationed ocean palace disciples.
This wasn’t a surprise at all to Yun Che. In the past, the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament and Seven Nation Ranking Tournament had all been extremely boisterous due to the crowding together of so many practitioners but there was one difference between those tournaments and this conference… this one was in Supreme Ocean Palace! It was held in one of the places considered sacred in the hearts of profound practitioners! Other than the other three sacred grounds, the forces which had come after receiving invitations were too overwhelmed with with honor and fear to act otherwise. To set foot in a legendary sacred ground, each step was startling and uneasy. Even if one had great courage, they would still only quietly live in the residence arranged for them. One would absolutely never dare to raucously run around.
The profound practitioners who were able to be invited were all renowned powerful experts and hegemons. However, upon arriving at Supreme Ocean Palace, they were all like civilians who had entered a royal palace. The atmosphere made them too timid to even breathe heavily.
As they walked, Mo Chenfeng no longer spoke with Yun Che. Instead, his footsteps became faster and faster. However, Yun Che and Feng Xue’er effortlessly kept up. At this time, a vague figure appeared in Yun Che’s vision.
This person was roughly three feet tall and was completely clad in pitch-black clothes. Furthermore, they also wore a dilapidated cloak which was too large for them, the upper part covering their entire face while the lower part dragged along the ground beside their feet.
This was the very first profound practitioner Yun Che had seen after entering Supreme Ocean Palace who wasn’t associated with the ocean palace. He was certain because the aura emanating off this person’s body was completely different from the ones emanating off the bodies of the ocean palace disciples he had met earlier. Moreover, the person’s profound energy aura was only at the third level of the Emperor Profound Realm.
This person walked across the faintly flashing blue ground at a pace that wasn’t fast or slow, making it hard to immediately discern if it was truly a person walking regardless of the angle. Within the quiet, open ocean palace that contained profound energy so thick it had become heavy, this figure’s existence was particularly eye-catching… even though the figure was so far away, one could still feel an extremely strange aura emanating off of them.
Seeing this person, Yun Che’s footsteps momentarily paused as his brows furrowed.
Such a heavy poisonous aura! Under the person’s black clothes, there had to be at least two hundred or more powerful toxins hidden!
Moreover, that aura… could it be the Poison Emperor?!
Having seen Yun Che’s reaction, Mo Chenfeng turned his head and asked, “Has Asgard Master Yun perhaps met that person before?”
“I have not.” Yun Che shook his head, retracting his gaze from atop the figure of the short person covered in black clothes, “I was only curious. I heard that this Devil Sword Conference only invited Overlord and Sovereign level practitioners, yet that person’s profound strength is only at the third level of the Emperor Profound Realm and they were still invited. Furthermore, based on their appearance and indiscreet behavior in Supreme Ocean Palace… I believe that they should be quite an unusual figure.”
“That person is indeed unusual.” Mo Chenfeng whispered, “He comes from Black Fiend Nation. Although his profound strength is only at the Emperor Profound Realm, he is as strong as an Overlord if not as strong as a Sovereign. Facing him, many would quickly retreat to avoid conflict as this person is quite infamous in Black Fiend Nation, where he is fearfully compared to a viper. Perhaps Asgard Master Yun too will have heard of his name.”
“Toxin Immortal!”
“Oh…” Yun Che let out a exclamation. This was the first time he had heard this name.
“I’ve heard this name before from my royal father.” Feng Xue’er opened her mouth and said, “In the past, royal father once told me about the most terrifying figures within the Profound Sky Continent, he mentioned the ‘Toxin Immortal’ and said that this person was the most powerful poison user within the Profound Sky Continent… especially his personally crafted poisons. Upon being poisoned, there is no one who can save you from them.”
“Right.” Mo Chenfeng nodded. Although he was the Great Elder of Supreme Ocean Palace, even he still knew of this person, showing just how terrifying this person was, “He has countless enemies including several Overlords and Sovereigns yet he has still survived to this day with his level of profound strength. Clearly the strength of his poisons is no small matter. However, this fellow wasn’t invited by my ocean palace.”
“Oh?” Yun Che perplexedly asked.
“He was invited by Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. They intend to borrow his ability for some matter or another. Perhaps we will find out when the Devil Sword Conference begins.”
“We have reached Ocean Imperial Palace.” Mo Chenfeng stopped and turned around, “Princess Snow, I will trouble you to wait here. Asgard Master Yun, please follow me.”
“Big Brother Yun, I will wait for you here… you must be careful,” Feng Xue’er gently said, stopping.
“Relax, I’ll be back before you know it.”
Ocean Imperial Palace was situated in the exact center of Supreme Ocean Palace. In a sense, it was the core of the entire ocean palace and was a symbol of the palace’s ten thousand years of prestige and glory.
The appearance of the Ocean Imperial Palace was not much different from all of the other palace halls Yun Che had passed during his walk here. However, the moment he entered the vicinity of Ocean Imperial Palace, his mind and senses simultaneously became unsettled… in that instant, he felt as if he had left the mortal world and stepped into a heavenly palace. A deep feeling of reverence spontaneously emerged within the depths of his heart, causing him to suddenly feel the desire to kneel in worship. His originally extremely perceptive spiritual sense became hazy as even his vision began to blur.
Yun Che’s dazed state was only for a very brief moment while he was in shock. Afterwards, he quickly concentrated his mind. Because of his body’s Dragon God Soul, his soul power had reached an extremely high level. Thus, his five senses were quickly restored to their normal states.
“Below this Ocean Imperial Palace, there is indeed a strange profound formation. If one’s profound strength or soul power isn’t enough, I’m afraid one would fall to their knees upon entering,” Jasmine suddenly said in a cold tone.
Arriving at the door to the Ocean Imperial Palace, Mo Chenfeng turned around and looked at Yun Che, only to discover that Yun Che’s eyes were both clear. Moreover, his demeanor was still composed, and his footsteps were still smooth. Not the slightest trace of fear or anxiety was apparent on his face. He was instead leisurely appreciating the surrounding scenery.
An expression of deep shock flashed through Mo Chenfeng’s pupils. The entire Ocean Imperial Palace was enveloped within a giant profound formation. Furthermore, this giant profound formation, called the “Oceanus Shroud Formation,” was the most powerful profound formation within Supreme Ocean Palace. Upon entering the formation, one would become subject to extreme pressure as if one was facing a true god. Those under the level of Sovereign would feel their bodies become weak upon entering the formation and begin to shiver. Those under the level of Overlord would immediately collapse to the ground and kneel, becoming completely incapable of walking.
Even Mo Chenfeng himself, eighth level Sovereign that he was, would feel his heart continuously palpitate in fear every time he entered Ocean Imperial Palace.
He had originally believed that Yun Che, even with his own abnormal talent, would at least experience unsteady steps, a pale face, and cold sweats upon entering the “Oceanus Shroud Formation” for the first time without preparation… he had never thought that Yun Che’s face would be so leisurely and composed, as if he weren’t affected at all by the “Oceanus Shroud Formation.”
Just… just how could this be? Could Yun Che’s mental strength actually be higher than his own?
Mo Chenfeng thought in shock.
The great doors were pushed open, and the two entered with Mo Chenfeng lowering his head as he entered. After taking three steps, Mo Chenfeng had already stooped down in a bow, “Reporting to the Sovereign of the Seas, Blue Wind Empire’s Asgard Master Yun Che has been brought over.”
After Mo Chenfeng entered the Ocean Imperial Palace, he had constantly kept his head down. Yun Che then immediately moved towards the figure in the middle of the giant palace.
The Sovereign of the Seas stood there with their back facing them. Their figure was exquisitely slender, and they wore a long palace robe which was sparkling with a blue glow. The highest collar of their robe directly reached their hair which was in the shape of a top knot.
This back figure caused Yun Che to momentarily stop in astonishment.
A… female?
The Sovereign of the Seas was a… woman?
“You may withdraw.”
The Sovereign of the Seas spoke. Their voice was like that of a middle aged woman’s, very gentle, but each word was like a heaven shaking bell, majestic and full of power.
“Yes.” Mo Chenfeng withdrew and closed the great doors of the Ocean Imperial Palace.
“Junior Yun Che greets Senior Sovereign.” Yun Che took a step forward and respectfully saluted as he acted in a dignified manner. After all, the person in front of him was the leader of one sacred grounds which had lorded over the Profound Sky Continent for ten thousand years! She was one of the peerlessly strong practitioners who stood at the peak of the Profound Sky Continent, and was the first leader of a sacred ground that Yun Che had met!
Only, Yun Che had never imagined that the Sovereign of the Seas, one of the four sacred masters, would actually be a female!
The Sovereign of the Seas slowly turned around, exposing her true appearance to Yun Che. She had the appearance of a middle aged woman, but without the slightest trace of femininity. Instead, each contour contained an extremely solemn dignity and sharpness.
Her eyes were extremely clear, and her pupils were as profound as the ocean. Within her eyes, there was a trace of emotion trickling around. The awkward oppressive silence lasted for a full ten breaths before she finally spoke. She slowly nodded, “Seeing is indeed better than hearing from others. Even while standing in front of this sovereign within the ‘Oceanus Shroud Formation,’ your eyes are still as clear as a mirror, your heart still as sturdy as a rock. This sovereign had always believed that the rumors surrounding you were over exaggerated, but meeting you now, you are even better than the rumors! No wonder ‘that person’ has such a high opinion of you.”
Yun Che didn’t bother asking who the ‘person’ she spoke about was, and instead faintly smiled as he replied, “This junior doesn’t dare receive the Sovereign of the Seas’ praise. This junior only came to Supreme Ocean Palace to participate in the Devil Sword Conference and enter Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. I wish for Senior Sovereign’s consent.”
“Asgard Master Yun is truly straightforward.” The Sovereign of the Seas’ eyes furrowed as she slowly walked forward. Every step closer she got, the stronger the pressure enveloping Yun Che’s body became. “This sovereign had wished to converse with you for quite a while, but it seems like Asgard Master Yun has no interest in this.”
“To be able to meet Senior Sovereign is already this junior’s greatest fortune. Senior is the leader of Supreme Ocean Palace, and is a powerful overlord under the heavens. Each breath of your time is as valuable as ten thousand jin of gold. How could this junior dare delay you?” Yun Che replied in a manner which was neither humble nor arrogant.
“Is that so?” The Sovereign of the Seas reached a point three steps in front of Yun Che and stopped. She was impressively half a head taller than Yun Che. “The reason for why you want to enter the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest is already known by this sovereign. However, this sovereign is very curious about why you are willing to pay such a cost to pick a Netherworld Udumbara Flower. From what this sovereign knows, the Netherworld Udumbara Flower is an extremely evil and vile thing. Even if a Sovereign nears it, just a simple mental attack will result in death. Outside of using it for murder in a traceless manner, I’ve never heard of any other uses for it.”
Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Yun Che sincerely said, “The Netherworld Udumbara Flower is needed by my master. Truthfully, this matter should not have been told to others, but since it’s requested by Senior Sovereign, this junior will naturally tell.”
The Netherworld Udumbara Flower was something Jasmine needed, and Jasmine was indeed his master. Thus his words were justified and true. There was no way for the Sovereign of the Seas to find any trace of lies.
“Your master?” The Sovereign of the Seas’ eyes narrowed, “This sovereign heard that your respected master has heaven defying abilities, an ability to turn a Sovereign to ashes just by flicking his fingers. Since it’s something your master needs, why doesn’t he come pick it himself? I trust with your respected master’s ability, there is no where in this world he cannot go.”
“It’s because the task of picking this Netherworld Udumbara Flower was given to this junior by my master as a test.” Yun Che chuckled and said, “Since master has ordered it, this junior must try to complete it at all costs. These last few years, this junior has constantly been inquiring about this matter concerning the Netherworld Udumbara Flower and has finally been fortunate enough to learn that they have appeared before within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. Thus, this junior has to go in and search no matter what… this junior beseeches senior to agree.”
“So it’s like this.” The Sovereign of the Seas slowly nodded. However, the fluctuations in her eyes were still there, as if she still wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not. “While we are on this topic, where is your respected master currently? This sovereign wonders if she could have the opportunity to meet him?”
“Master has long since been a person who doesn’t care about the mortal world. He already almost never sets foot into the mortal world as he doesn’t want to be bound by any responsibilities. Thus, although this junior is his disciple, I don’t know where my master is currently nor where he will go next. Only when this junior cannot help but beg will his master reveal himself.” Yun Che repeated again the same words he had previously said to Spiritual Master Ancient Blue.
His fictional master “Old Man Duotian” had been completely accepted by the Four Great Sacred Grounds, acting as a great deterrent against them for him. Since this “master” was of great use, he would naturally do his best to maintain it.
“That is indeed unfortunate,” the Sovereign of the Seas casually replied. Suddenly she changed the topic, “Moon Slaughter Devil Nest is the most taboo place of my Supreme Ocean Palace. We don’t allow any outsiders to enter. However, Moon Slaughter Devil Nest hasn’t been opened for the last thousand and three hundred years, and it is about time for this sovereign to arrange for people to enter and check for any abnormal changes. Moreover, considering how my ocean palace has already received ten of your ‘Six Flavor Emperor Pellets’, wouldn’t it make my ocean palace’s words worthless if I rejected you?”
Yun Che’s eyes stared blankly… what? Six Flavor Emperor Pellet? What the hell was that?!
Could it refer to… the Overlord Pellet?
Holy shit! Just what kind of crappy name did Zi Ji come up with?!
Moreover… from the Sovereign of the Seas’ words just now, she had just taken initiative to completely expose the ocean palace’s relationship with Black Moon Merchant Guild!
“Thank you for your consent!” Yun Che joyously said.
“Don’t get happy too early,” the Sovereign of the Seas coldly said, “Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’s seal can only be opened once every five hundred years. Moreover, each time it is open, it is only for the extremely short period of a hundred breaths! After a hundred breaths, the passage will forcefully close and become sealed for another five hundred years. Even my Supreme Ocean Palace has no way of forcing it to open before then. This is to prevent any yin energy from leaking out into the Profound Sky Continent. As for the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, it only blooms once every twenty four years and wilts three days after blooming. For you to find a blooming Netherworld Udumbara Flower in the time of a hundred breaths is pretty much impossible. That’s not to mention the fact that we are unsure whether or not there are still Netherworld Udumbara Flowers existing in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.”
“Thus, just forget about entering the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. Even if you enter, it will just be a wasted trip.”
“This junior already knows this. However, junior still hopes that senior will allow him to try,” Yun Che said without hesitation.
“Since you are so persistent… this sovereign will allow you to enter the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. When do you want to enter?” the Sovereign of the Seas asked.
“The earlier the better!” Yun Che said after thinking for a while, “If possible, I would like to enter today.”
“Alright!” Sovereign of the Seas slowly nodded her head, “Since it’s like this, this sovereign will help you! I will arrange for someone to bring you to the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest right now!”
Chapter 770 - A Bad Bargain
“Right now?” Yun Che asked in daze. He had never thought that the Sovereign of the Seas would be a woman, and he had not expected that she would be so honest and frank regarding the huge matter of Supreme Ocean Palace’s forbidden grounds.
“The Devil Sword Conference will commence in three days. In order to prepare the profound formation that will be used during this conference, this sovereign will be even busier than usual for the next few days, and I won’t have time to worry about anything else. So if we can resolve this matter at an earlier date, this sovereign will be able to avoid a potential headache. What do you think about this arrangement?” The Sovereign of the Seas said, her face a rigid mask.
Yun Che thought about it briefly before giving an assertive nod of his head, “Great! Then let’s begin now!”
“Very good!” The Sovereign of the Seas said, after which she glanced to the side before continuing, “Zi Ji, I will task with you personally escorting Yun Che to the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest! You can embark immediately!”
“Hohoho.” A mild laugh rang out as a door on the left side of the Ocean Imperial Palace gently opened and a elegant, middle-aged man who was wearing a purple robe emerged from within. The man’s face bore a faint smile as he spoke, “Yun Che, it has only been a few short months since we last met, yet your profound strength has grown by leaps and bounds once again. This rate of growth is truly breathtaking.”
“As expected, Senior Zi is a member of Supreme Ocean Palace.” Yun Che replied, a faint smile plastered on his face, he was not the least bit surprised at Zi Ji’s sudden appearance.
Zi Ji gently nodded his head, “Given your intelligence and powers of observation, it was expected that you would have long ago come to this conclusion. It is fortunate that the Sovereign of the Seas was agreeable when it came to the matter of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, because I, Zi Ji, also owe you a personal favor over the matter of the ten medicine pellets. With this, we can consider our debt settled. Also, the request that you made the last time we met has already been completed, and I trust that you will not be disappointed with the results.”
After Zi Ji had finished speaking, he gave a flourish of his hand. Profound light flashed as two ebony wooden boxes appeared in his hands. Even though he did not know what was within the wooden boxes, but the thick and heavy aura that it released was evidence enough that these two boxes were definitely extraordinary items.
“Could this be two profound cores?” Yun Che immediately asked as his gaze grew more intense, “But I am unclear as to whether it is the profound core of a Tyrant Profound beast or a Sovereign Profound beast.”
“You will know once you’ve taken a look.” Zi Ji said with a placid smile.
Yun Che strode forward and took both the wooden boxes from Zi Ji’s hands. Instead of opening the boxes, he sent two streams of profound energy into them. Immediately, his profound energy came into contact with two incomparably strong profound energy auras that were at the level of the Sovereign Profound Realm.
Much to his astonishment, the two wooden boxes contained the profound cores of two Sovereign Profound beasts.
This is great… Yun Che thought before he kept both of the wooden boxes, “Senior Zi is indeed a man of remarkable abilities. Just as we had agreed upon that day, you have delivered two precious cores to me.”
Yun Che’s flicked a finger towards Zi Ji as he tossed two Overlord Pellets to him. Zi Ji extended a hand to catch them and he handled the two pellets with great care as he withdrew them. His face glowed with satisfaction as he replied, “Sovereign Profound beasts are extremely hard to find, and they are even harder to hunt. In order to obtain the profound cores of these two profound beasts, my Ocean Palace had to exert themselves greatly. But since the payoff was two of these matchless and wondrous pellets, it was more than worth it.”
The Sovereign of the Seas shot Zi Ji a glance before speaking, “Yun Che, I heard the rumors about your master ‘Old Man Duotian’ from Sun Moon Divine Hall. Even though the actions of Sun Moon Divine Hall clearly demonstrated their great fear of your teacher, this sovereign still remained mostly skeptical about the entire affair. But now that I have seen this peerless, precious medicine that your master can produce easily with a flick of finger, this sovereign cannot help but bow to the truth that was demonstrated by such skill. Even if we poured all of our resources and effort into such an endeavor, my Ocean Palace would not be able to refine this medicine.”
“You do not need to worry. Zi Ji has only advised me on the truth behind this precious medicine. In this world, only the three of us know about it, there definitely won’t be a fourth person.” The Sovereign of the Seas said, her face expressionless and her eyes cold and tranquil as a lake.
“This junior naturally will not dare to doubt the words of the Sovereign of the Seas.” Yun Che replied.
“Zi Ji has also mentioned this to me. Several months ago, you requested that the Black Moon Merchant Guild help you auction off twenty of these precious pellets, and after that, you swore that you would not sell any more of these pellets to the Four Great Sacred Grounds. Is that truly the case?”
“Of course it is.” Yun Che replied as he nodded his head unhesitantly, “No matter how precious something is, if it is easily available, it won’t be worth much. If not for the fact that this junior required a large amount of Purple Veined Divine Crystal within a short amount of time, I would definitely not choose to sell this medicine at all.”
“That would be most ideal.” The Sovereign of the Seas said as she nodded her head solemnly. Once the twenty Overlord Pellets that came from Yun Che were revealed to the whole world, it would definitely cause a great stir. The other three Sacred Grounds would spare no expense in obtaining as many of them as they possibly could. But in the end, the most likely outcome was that all four Sacred Grounds would split the twenty pellets evenly. Anyone who was not a Sacred Ground could forget about obtaining even one pellet.
So, in the end, Supreme Ocean Palace would appear to have five of the pellets, but the fact of the matter was that they would have seventeen of them! And the price they had to pay merely amounted to a measly ten kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal and granting Yun Che permission to enter the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest once. These extra twelve Overlord Pellets could not be used publicly in the short term, but once a generation had passed, the peak of the Supreme Ocean Palace’s power would definitely far exceed its current lofty heights, and they might even be able to surpass Absolute Monarch Sanctuary!
“This Devil Sword Conference will cause all the heroes of the realm to gather together, so it will be an excellent time to hold an auction. After the Devil Sword Conference ends, this sovereign will naturally get Zi Ji to make the necessary arrangements.” The Sovereign of the Seas raised a long sleeve as she flipped her hand, and a piece of precious jade that emitted an ethereal blue light floated on top of her palm. She gently pushed the precious jade towards Zi Ji, “This is our Supreme Ocean Palace’s Ocean Emperor Seal, the emblem of the Sovereign of the Seas. It is also the only object that can release the restriction placed on the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. Zi Ji, take it and bring Yun Che to the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest right away. And once the matter has been resolved, come back as fast as you can!”
Zi Ji did not say a word. He merely gave a faint nod of his head as he gripped the Ocean Emperor Seal tightly in his hand.
Yun Che’s expression had not changed this entire time, but he had been secretly observing the expressions and body language of both the Sovereign of the Seas and Zi Ji…. As the ruler of the Ocean Palace, even the extremely exalted great elder Mo Chenfeng still held her in great reverence. But when Zi Ji interacted with the Sovereign of the Seas, his attitude was nearly the same as it had been when he was talking terms with Yun Che, there was hardly any fear or reverence when he spoke to her. When the Sovereign of the Seas had given Zi Ji and order, her tone was far less intimidating and imposing than when she was ordering Mo Chenfeng around… Furthermore, it seemed that this softened attitude was something that she was completely unaware of.
The relationship between Zi Ji and the Sovereign of the Seas… definitely seemed to be rather special.
A thought flashed through Yun Che’s mind, causing his eyebrows to twitch. He swiftly seized the opportunity to speak, “Sovereign of the Seas, Senior Zi, regarding the auctioning of these precious pellets, this junior has thought of a new trade and perhaps, it might be of great interest to the both of you.”
“Oh?” The Sovereign of the Seas said, her eyes slanting. But Zi Ji’s expression lit up with expectation and he replied merrily, “What kind of trade do you have in mind?”
Yun Che proceeded to explain in an unhurried manner, “The last time we spoke of this at the Black Moon Merchant Guild, Senior Zi said that one of these precious pellets could be sold for at least one kilogram of Purple Veined Divine Crystal. After that, Senior Zi did not even hesitate to produce ten kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal and even tell me about the secret of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, all so he could purchase ten pellets from me immediately. So it is very clear that Senior Zi regards the price of one kilogram of Purple Veined Divine Crystal as a very conservative estimate, and the actual price of one pellet when the time comes for it be auctioned will definitely be far higher than this.”
“Hohoho.” Zi Ji gave a tepid laugh and allowed Yun Che to continue. Even though he held an extremely exalted position within one of the Sacred Grounds of the profound world, when he dealt with profound practitioners, he would always rather identify himself as a merchant. And a merchant would definitely never easily reveal his “true valuation” of an item. Once he had found out about the effects of the Overlord Pellet, he was entirely sure that the price of one pellet would definitely not only be one kilogram of Purple Veined Divine Crystal… especially if they were talking about the Sacred Grounds, it was definitely not going to be as low as that.
The Sacred Grounds would never have enough of resources that could directly increase their power, so a medicinal pellet like the Overlord Pellet that could forcibly break through high-level bottlenecks was an item that the Sacred Grounds yearned for even in their dreams.
Yun Che reached into the Sky Poison Pearl and took out twenty Overlord Pellets. The rich, thick and intense aura of medicine instantly pervaded the entire Ocean Imperial Palace, causing the atmosphere within the Ocean Imperial Palace to change precipitously, despite being enveloped by an extremely strong profound formation.
The gazes of Zi Ji and the Sovereign of the Seas fell on the twenty Overlord Pellets simultaneously… and even though she was the Sovereign of the Seas, she could not help but be shaken when confronted with a medicinal aura that she acknowledged as being able to shake the heavens and the earth.
“Originally, my desire was to hand over twenty of these precious pellets to Senior Zi so he could auction them off. But now, I have changed my mind.”
“Oh? Could it be that you decided not to sell them?” Zi Ji asked.
“No! I have only decided to change the way they are going to be sold.” Yun Che made a gesture with his arm, but he did not withdraw these twenty Overlord Pellets. Instead he continued speaking with an extremely sincere expression, “I decided that I would rather sell these twenty Overlord Pellets for twenty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals directly to the Supreme Ocean Palace before I venture into the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. After that, whatever you get from auctioning off these twenty precious pellets will all belong to you, it will have nothing to do with me!”
“…” The Sovereign of the Seas’ and Zi Ji’s eyebrows very clearly twitched at those words.
“Why have you come to this decision?” Zi Ji asked in a composed manner, “If you auctioned these pellets to the Four Sacred Grounds, their price will definitely not only be twenty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal. I can frankly and honestly tell you that the price of one kilogram for one pellet is indeed the most conservative estimate. And for medicine that would allow a person to break through the bottleneck of the Tyrant Profound Realm, even if it was one and a half kilograms for one pellet, the Four Sacred Grounds would still fight tooth and nail with each other to obtain these pellets.”
“I know.” Yun Che said with a bland smile, “If not, given Senior Zi’s mental state which is akin to a thousand year old dead tree, he would not have been so anxious to buy ten of these pellets.”
Zi Ji, “…”
“I am not a greedy person.” Yun Che continued, “And the price of one kilogram of Purple Veined Divine Crystal for one pellet had already exceeded my initial expectations. Even though the price I could fetch for twenty of these precious pellets through an auction is far higher than twenty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal, this amount already satisfies my requirements, and I have no real need for any more than that. For me, if I can obtain this amount early on, it would give me greater peace of mind.”
Zi Ji fell silent for a brief period of time before replying, “In another three days, the Devil Sword Conference will commence. Once the Devil Sword Conference ends, I will personally arrange for an auction to be held before all the heroes of the realm depart. Added altogether, this should take place in a mere four to five days. At that time, the price you can get from the auction will at least surpass twenty five kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal! But for the sake of getting these Divine Crystals a few days earlier, you are willing to forego at least five to ten kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals!?”
“Yes!” Yun Che said as he nodded his head, “Of course, this is just my own personal desire. If the Sovereign of the Seas and Senior Zi are not amenable to this suggestion, then I won’t try to force the issue.”
Zi Ji and the Sovereign of the Seas exchanged a glance before he replied with a wide smile, “How could our Ocean Palace miss out on this great opportunity? If you are truly willing to do as you said… Sovereign of the Seas, we will need to use a part of those Divine Crystals.”
“Indeed, we must.” The Sovereign of the Seas said with a faint nod as she gazed into Yun Che’s eyes before replying, “Purple Veined Divine Crystals are the most valuable and rare resources in the entire Profound Sky Continent! And it is extremely hard for anyone to be able to use twenty kilograms of it in a single transaction.”
“Oh?” Yun Che said as he raised his eyebrows, “The Four Great Sacred Grounds definitely have resources that are far more vast than the common man can imagine. Moreover, the Supreme Ocean Palace also has the support of the Black Moon Merchant Guild. While twenty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal is an astronomical sum to the other powers, for your Supreme Ocean Palace, it shouldn’t be too big of a request, correct?”
“It seems that you do not have a clear understanding of just how precious and rare Purple Veined Divine Crystals are.” The Sovereign of the Seas said as she shot Yun Che a glance, “When it comes to the abundance of resources, our Supreme Ocean Palace is the first amongst the Four Great Sacred Grounds. But do you know how many Divine Crystals our Ocean Palace distributes to our most talented disciples every five years?”
Yun Che, “…”
The Sovereign of the Seas slowly extended one finger, “It is fifty grams! Moreover, only the most talented, high-status disciples in our Sacred Ground will receive this amount, and that includes this sovereign as well!”
“That is also to say that even if it was this sovereign’s son, he would only be able to obtain half a kilogram of Purple Veined Divine Crystal after fifty years! As for Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, Sun Moon Divine Hall and Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, they will definitely distribute a lesser amount than we do! Even for the other powers within the Profound Sky Continent, obtaining a Divine Crystal that is as small as a grain of sand could be said to be the highlight of a lifetime! Yet you are willing to forego such a huge amount of Divine Crystals just for those few days of ‘peace of mind’. This ‘magnanimity and open-mindedness’ has truly expanded my horizons!”
Yun Che’s expression did not change. “This junior definitely understands the value of the Purple Veined Divine Crystals. But since your Ocean Palace is unable to retrieve twenty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal, then you can treat it as if this junior had never mentioned this matter in the first place. Senior Zi, I will have to trouble you to escort this junior to the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.”
Yun Che was calm and collected and there was an air about him that showed that he did not really care whether it was a few days early or a few days late or how much more or less Purple Veined Divine Crystals he could obtain from this deal.
“Twenty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal is indeed an astronomical sum, but that does not mean that our Ocean Palace is unable to foot the bill.”
Zi Ji continued speaking as a merry smile spread across his face, “The last time we expended ten kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal in order to buy those ten pellets from you, using up nearly half of the Divine Crystals that our Ocean Palace had allotted for use. That is to say that the amount of Divine Crystals that our Ocean Palace is currently free to use only amounts to about ten kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal. But other than this amount, we still have a stash of Divine Crystals that we are not allowed to touch.”
“Not allowed to touch? Could it be that it is being held in reserve in case disaster strikes?” Yun Che asked after he thought about it briefly.
“Hoho, you are indeed intelligent.” Zi Ji said as he nodded his head, “Our Supreme Ocean Palace has stashed away twenty five kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal for the longest time. And this stash of Divine Crystals are only to be used to activate a sect-wide protective profound formation when the Ocean Palace encounters a great crisis. So we were given a strict order that has been passed down for generations, that we were not to use these Divine Crystals unless we encountered such a crisis. The truth of the matter is that these twenty five kilograms of Divine Crystals have been stored in reserve for the past eight thousand years or so, but we have yet to find the occasion to use it.”
Because within the Profound Sky Continent, there was nothing that could threaten the extermination of Supreme Ocean Palace.
Chapter 771 - Mighty Heavenly Sword Master
“Even though using these divine crystals violates our ancestor’s prohibition, a transaction like this with such tremendous earnings yet is so low-risk, I can’t find any reason to refuse. This could be said to be the most profitable transaction I’ve done in my entire life. If I miss out, I wouldn’t deserve to call myself a merchant.”
As his voice fell, a spatial ring that flashed with purple light appeared in Zi Ji’s hand. He put the purple crystal spatial ring before Yun Che’s eyes. “In here, are precisely twenty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals. If you want to back out, there’s still time to do so right now.”
Yun Che didn’t answer. With a push of his hand, twenty Overlord Pellets flew over to Zi Ji. Simultaneously the purple crystal spatial ring in Zi Ji’s hand was drawn over into his hands. He used his conscious to look inside and found twenty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals stored inside with not a gram more or less.
“Making a transaction with Senior Zi is sure delightful.” Yun Che withdrew the purple crystal spatial ring. “I hope Senior Zi will not forget that these twenty precious pellets can only be used for auction and not pocketed privately.”
With these twenty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal now in hand added to the twenty five kilograms inside the Sky Poison Pearl… Jasmine’s required thirty five kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals had thus been met!
He had two profound cores already in hand and they were Sovereign Profound Cores, far above Jasmine’s needed Emperor Profound Cores.
The only thing missing was now only the Netherworld Udumbara Flower!
“Hoho, that is a matter of course.” Zi Ji’s profound energy also swept across every Overlord Pellet, then carefully withdrew them with a face full of smiles… This was indeed the most profitable transaction he had made in his entire life. Not only was it easy, Yun Che had obtained more than ten kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals and the entire process only took a short, few days.
The “sum” of the exchange between the two was enormous, yet was easily completed in but a few words and left both sides extremely satisfied.
He was in possession of forty five kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals, an amount that was astronomical whether it was in the Illusory Demon Realm or the Profound Sky Continent and definitely surpassed any Sacred Ground’s reserves! Yun Che knew that him being able to obtain this many Purple Veined Divine Crystals definitely was not based on his own strength, but rather the Sky Poison Pearl’s unrivaled heaven defying power.
But that was merely in terms of reserves. The current Yun Che wasn’t actually in possession of the highest number within the Profound Sky Continent… the ones with the most Purple Veined Divine Crystals were actually the Divine Phoenix Sect!
The death of the Phoenix God and having fifty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal were two secrets the Divine Phoenix Sect had to protect with their lives! Either being leaked out could attract a huge catastrophe. In order to cover up those secrets the Divine Phoenix Sect spared no effort in pursuing their cruel war with the Blue Wind Nation.
“Well done!” The Sovereign of the Seas was also evidently pleased about this transaction. Her face that was always stiff had even smoothed somewhat. “Asgard Master Yun, you are indeed an extraordinary person of talent. Since this transaction is complete, Zi Ji, you can now take Yun Che to Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.”
“However, Asgard Master Yun, this sovereign must still remind you again that Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’s seal will only be open for one hundred breaths! After a hundred breaths of time, the seal will automatically close and definitely can’t be forced open again. Thus, after entering Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, you must leave within a hundred breaths regardless of the outcome or else you will die inside, eternally trapped! Furthermore, the yin energy in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest is extremely strong. Not only will it substantially suppress profound energy, it will also decrease one’s life essence. Forget about you at your current strength, even this sovereign would not last a day before dying as a cripple if trapped inside. Being able to stay in there for a five hundred years before leaving at its next opening is complete nonsense.”
“Don’t worry, when we get there, I will go inside the devil nest along with him. No need to wait for a hundred breaths, once fifty breaths have passed, I will forcibly bring him out.” Zi Ji said as he chuckled.
“That’s for the best, you may go!”
……………………
Together, Yun Che and Zi Ji left Ocean Imperial Palace. Feng Xue’er, who was waiting outside quickly walked to Yun Che’s side. “Big Brother Yun, are you alright?”
“Of course I’m alright.” Yun Che smiled as he held Feng Xue’er’s hand then extended the other one, gesturing toward Zi Ji, “This is Supreme Ocean Palace’s Senior Zi Ji.”
“Divine Phoenix Sect’s Feng Xue’er greets Senior Zi.”
Zi Ji smiled as he nodded with a peculiar expression in his eyes. “Princess Snow’s name has long passed through my ears. To have met you in person is a great fortune.”
“Xue’er, I’m going to enter the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest with Senior Zi. Go accompany your royal father first, I will be back before you know it.” Yun Che said to Feng Xue’er.
“You’re going in now?” Feng Xue’er knew that the main objective for Yun Che’s visit to Supreme Ocean Palace was to enter the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, she just did not expect it to happen so quickly. She automatically replied, “Then I am definitely going to be accompanying Big Brother Yun as well. After all, I already promised all the Junior and Senior Masters that I would definitely be keeping watch over you at all times.”
“Alright then.” Yun Che had expected such a reply so he did not try to talk her out of it. He gripped Feng Xue’er’s tiny hand even tighter than before and said sincerely, “It is very likely that there will be unforeseen dangers that lurk in that place, so you must definitely listen to my every word while we are inside. You must definitely not endanger your own life trying to protect me.”
“I know! I’ve always been really obedient to Big Brother Yun you know.” Feng Xue’er said with a sweet smile.
The intimacy shared between the two of them caused Zi Ji’s mood to immediately grow complex. He raised his hand and spoke, “The Moon Slaughter Devil Nest is extremely close to our Ocean Palace. If you travel seventy-five kilometers south in a straight line, you will reach your destination. So Yun Che, unless you have any other things to settle, let us make haste.”
“Alright! I’ll have to trouble Senior Zi to lead the way then!”
Just as the three people took to the sky, they saw a faraway figure rushing towards them at an extremely fast speed, as if that person was really eager to catch up to them. Yun Che halted in mid-air before letting out a low yell, “Yuanba! What are you doing here?”
Whoosh!
A rush of wild wind blew in Xia Yuanba’s wake as he rushed over. He bent over to catch his breath as he gasped for air. He said, “My teacher has already settled in, so since I have nothing better to do, I went to look for Brother-in-law. Ah? Mister Zi? You… are going somewhere?”
During the last Seven Nation Ranking Tournament, Ancient Blue had brought Xia Yuanba to the Divine Phoenix City, and the first place they had paid a visit to was the Black Moon Merchant Guild. The purpose of that visit was to see Zi Ji. So even though Xia Yuanba had never been to Supreme Ocean Palace before, he still recognized Zi Ji.
“We are going to the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. Yuanba, do you want to come with us?” Yun Che knew that the reason Xia Yuanba had rushed over in such a hurry was because he was worried for Yun Che’s safety. Now that they were going to enter the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, Xia Yuanba would definitely want to come along, and they could forget about chasing him away.
“Ah? We’re going now? Of course, I’m coming along! I’m actually also very curious to see what that place is like.” Xia Yuanba said with much excitement.
“Sigh.” Zi Ji laughed as he shook his head as he simply let out a sigh, “Let’s be off then. Once we reach that place, remember to always be on your guard.”
Standing guard over the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was the reason behind the existence of Supreme Ocean Palace in the first place, so it was natural that they would not be located too far apart. And to the four of them, seventy-five kilometers could be said to be a short stroll in the park.
Before long, they had reached the southern border of Supreme Ocean Palace.
A human figure appeared in their path.
Even though they were still several kilometers away from that person, Yun Che, Feng Xue’er, Xia Yuanba and Zi Ji all began to slow down simultaneously as the look in their eyes subtly changed.
“That person… has an incredible aura! Despite the fact that he is still so far away, I’m actually finding it hard to breathe.” Xia Yuanba exclaimed as he sucked in some air. He continued in a low voice, “It seems like he is even stronger than my master!”
As they drew closer to that person, his figure grew clearer in their vision. The man was wearing simple green robes, his body was lithe and limber, his long black hair bound into a simple ponytail which reached his waist. He was floating more than thirty meters above the surface of the ocean and despite the howling of the seabreeze around him, neither his clothes nor his hair moved a centimeter. Even the surface of the ocean beneath his feet was completely calm and still, not a single ripple that could be seen.
It seemed as if the space that existed around him had been completely frozen and sealed.
The man did not move a muscle and his body did not release any profound energy. As Yun Che’s party approached him, a soundless pressure descended upon them and it felt as if a metal plate that was growing thicker and thicker was being pressed against their chests.
“Senior Zi, who is that person?” Yun Che asked in a soft voice. The soundless might and pressure that this man was exuding definitely exceeded the might and pressure that Duke Ming had displayed at the Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley!
Zi Ji did not reply, striding forward to address the man that stood in front of them, “Sword Master Xuanyuan, what brings you here? To think that we would find you surveying this part of the ocean by yourself. Could it be that you have attained some form of enlightenment in recent days?”
Sword Master Xuanyuan!
These four words caused the hearts of Yun Che and his two companions to tremble.
“So he is the Sword Master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region… Xuanyuan Wentian!?” Xia Yuanba said in a low whisper.
“…” Yun Che’s hand curled inwards as it began to tighten into a fist. It was only after a good amount of time had passed that it finally relaxed a little.
Mighty Heavenly Sword Region… the ones who had caused the crippling of his parents and the death of his grandfather! It was also Mighty Heavenly Sword Region who killed Xiao Yun’s birth father, causing his birth mother to die of sorrow, and thus plunging Xiao Lie into despair and agony for more than twenty years….
The tragedies that stuck both his and Xiao Yun’s families all those years ago could be said to have been orchestrated by Duke Ming, but if Duke Ming had schemed up the whole thing, then Mighty Heavenly Sword Region had been the ones who had wielded the executioner’s blade!!
The green-robed man slowly turned around. His face was thin and sunken, his features were completely ordinary. His gaze raked across all four of them before he gave a weak smile and spoke, “Ah, so it was Mister Zi.”
After he had muttered those words, his gaze directly fell on Yun Che.
“If my guess isn’t wrong, the person to the right of Mister Zi should be the Yun Che who has sent shockwaves through the Profound Sky Continent in recent months.”
Yun Che, “…”
“Hoho, it is so. But who would have thought a supreme existence like Sword Master Xuanyuan would take such great notice of a junior.” Zi Ji replied in an even tone.
“That is only natural.” A bland smile that was filled with deep meaning spread across Xuanyuan Wentian’s placid face, but his eyes remained fixed on Yun Che, “As the most outstanding youngster of his generation, I would hope that you, Asgard Master Yun, will make it a point to come for the Devil Sword Conference that is being held in three days. The Devil Sword Conference would lose much of its luster if you choose not to grace us with your presence.”
Yun Che, “…?”
“It looks like Mister Zi and Asgard Master Yun still have some important things to attend to, so I won’t inconvenience you any further. Please.”
A mysterious smile was draped across Xuanyuan Wentian’s face as he slowly ascended into the sky. After that, his body blurred as he flew towards Supreme Ocean Palace. He had not asked them where they were heading to… as if that held no interest whatsoever.
“That was the Sword Master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region—Xuanyuan Wentian. I never thought we would meet him in such a place.”
Zi Ji said this rather casually, but once he had finished speaking, he took to the air once more as he continued to travel south.
Yun Che’s brows sank and his spirit suddenly felt a lot heavier. After a period of silence, he spoke out in the recesses of his mind, “Jasmine, during the period that we are staying in Supreme Ocean Palace, it is highly likely that I will have need of your strength… because I can’t shake the feeling that something just isn’t right.”
“Hmph!” Jasmine gave a bland and cold snort, “If I do not want you to die, ten thousand Xuanyuan Wentians would not be enough to kill you. But I am rather curious about one thing, why did you make such a bad bargain with Supreme Ocean Palace?”
“Because I have been having this inexplicable feeling of uneasiness ever since I arrived at Supreme Ocean Palace.” Yun Che said as his voice grew solemn, “I am afraid that some variables will appear during the Devil Sword Conference, so it would be best if I settled all my business first. Moreover, the gaze of that Xuanyuan Wentian… makes me feel as if I am completely naked before him.”
“I just hope that it’s just my overactive imagination… but no matter what, I definitely need to proceed with extreme caution now.”
……………………
“Father, the Toxin Immortal has arrived.”
The one who spoke was blue-robed young man with a thin and sunken face. His features and his figure resembled Xuanyuan Wentian very much.
The man who stood in front of him was the Xuanyuan Wentian who had just returned to Supreme Ocean Palace.
“Very good.” Xuanyuan Wentian said with a curt nod of his head, “I hope that his venomous insect poison works just like it does in the legends. If all he has is an empty reputation and he is of no use to us whatsoever, then there is no need for him to remain on this earth.”
“Is Father going to see him now?” The young man asked.
Xuanyuan Wentian did not give the go-ahead. Instead he spoke in a slow and deliberate tone, “That Yun Che didn’t disappoint me after all. He is already within Supreme Ocean Palace. I actually just met him.”
The young man threw his head back in delight as a dangerous smile played across his face, “That’s just wonderful news.”
“During the past hundred years, I have been obsessed with my preparations regarding the Devil Sword. I had originally planned to pay a visit to the Illusory Demon Realm again after I unsealed the Devil Sword so I could seize the Mirror of Samsara. But who would have thought that it would actually deliver itself up to me just as the Devil Sword is about to be unsealed. Truly even the heavens are on my side!” Xuanyuan Wentian said as he soundlessly laughed, his face raised to the heavens.
“Does that Mirror of Samsara really hide the ‘secrets of the Divine Profound’?” The young man asked.
“The secrets of the Divine Profound?” Xuanyuan Wentian said as his eyes faintly narrowed, “That was only a lie that the Illusory Demon Realm’s Duke Ming invented so he could make use of us. Hoho, that Duke Ming probably still naively believes that his intelligence and cunning was truly so peerless and unmatched that he managed to use the invented secret of the Mirror of Samsara to manipulate us into helping him achieve his ambition. Little does he knew that without my intervention and exhortation all those years ago, the other three Sacred Grounds would not have so easily bent to his will and commenced the invasion of the Illusory Demon Realm.”
“Since the so-called secrets of the Divine Profound are fake, then why does Father still have such a strong desire for the Mirror of Samsara? The young man asked very sincerely.
“I asked the Devil Sword about the Mirror of Samsara at that time, and it told me that the Mirror of Samsara was one of the ‘Heavenly Profound Treasures’, an item that even the gods of the Primordial Era desired to obtain. So even though I do not know exactly what it can do, something that even the gods themselves desired definitely is a hundred thousand times more valuable than those so-called ‘secrets of the Divine Profound’!”
“It was something that I definitely had to obtain once I unsealed the Devil Sword. And now that it has delivered itself to my doorstep, then how could I miss this opportunity to gladly receive it!!”
“Wendao, this matter is a secret that is to be kept solely between us, father and son.” Xuanyuan Wentian said as he cast a sidelong glance at his own son, “Furthermore, this is Supreme Ocean Palace, not the Sword Region, so do not mention even a single word of this again.”
“This son understands!”
Chapter 772 - Moon Slaughter Devil Nest
“What caused me the most concern was that Xuanyuan Wentian did not ask me where we were going just now. He also did not ask him anything regarding the ‘master’ that I had invented, yet he still gave me a very weird look.” Yun Che said to Jasmine in a low voice, “Moreover, when I visited Heavenly Sword Villa, that Xuanyuan Jiuding also gave me a very strange look as well.”
The strongest attributes Yun Che possessed were his powers of perception, insight and an intuition that was so strong that it bordered on terrifying.
“I’m just thinking that it’s extremely possible that Mighty Heavenly Sword Region may have uncovered some information. For example, for some reason, they already know that the ‘Old Man Duotian’ I invented is fake.” Yun Che said as his brows sank.
“Hmph, with me around, are you still actually afraid that you’ll die?” Jasmine scoffed. In the eyes of the profound practitioners of the Profound Sky Continent, Xuanyuan Wentian was someone that was akin to a god, a peerless individual. But in her eyes, he was just an ant that was slightly bigger than the rest.
“…So that is to say that for the duration that we are staying in Supreme Ocean Palace, I will need to rely on your power.” Yun Che said helplessly and reluctantly. He was not a person who was used to relying on others because he was extremely clear that relying on this sort of thing would for a major impediment to his growth—Jasmine knew this too, so for the past few years, she had kept up the pretense that she had sealed her own powers away.
This time, in order to grasp the slim chance that he might be able to obtain the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, he had no choice but to face the exceedingly powerful Four Sacred Grounds in advance. Therefore, he had no choice but to rely on Jasmine’s power… Otherwise, if Jasmine was still the state where “her power was sealed,” he would definitely not choose come to Supreme Ocean Palace at this point of time.
“Yun Che, you need to be exceedingly cautious about Xuanyuan Wentian.” Zi Ji suddenly said when he saw Yun Che’s solemn expression, “Xuanyuan Wentian is someone who is truly a sword maniac, and he has an insatiable desire for strength. Even though Mighty Heavenly Sword Region is the weakest of all the Four Sacred Grounds when it comes to aggregate power, Xuanyuan Wentian himself is slightly stronger than the Sovereign of the Seas, Qu Fengyi, and the Heavenly Monarch, Ye Meixie. Even when you compare him with the Saint Emperor, Huangji Wuyu, there is scarcely any difference in their power.”
“But if he was just a simple sword maniac, then that would be fine. Even though he seems like a refined, courteous gentleman and a respectable elder, the truth of the matter is that he is an extremely prejudiced and shrewd person, someone who is willing to do anything for the sake of attaining power. One thousand years ago, the Eternal Night Royal Family were destroyed for the sake of his insane ambition and even the rest of us became his accomplices during that sordid affair. In the end, we had no choice but to commit one wrong after another in order to protect the reputation of the Sacred Grounds.”
“Furthermore, your innate talent is extremely unusual and there are far too many unexplainable mysteries about you. If not for that inscrutably powerful teacher of yours, he might have already made his move against you… Just now he behaved in a rather odd manner, so it is something that you best pay attention to.”
Zi Ji’s voice was soft, but the warning in his eyes was clear for all to see. Yun Che and Xuanyuan Wentian had just met for this first time today, and someone who was at Zi Ji’s level would definitely know far more about Xuanyuan Wentian than Yun Che himself.
Yun Che nodded his head, “I understand. Thank you for your warning, Senior Zi… Senior Zi, this junior is also curious about one thing, but I’m not sure if it is a question that I should ask.”
Qu Fengyi… That was the name identified by Senior Zi as belonging to the Sovereign of the Seas. As one of the four Holy Masters of the Profound Sky Continent, her name was not domineering, but neither was it feminine or soft. Instead, it was a name that seemed to have weathered many storms.
The Saint Emperor, the ruler of the Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, the head of the four Holy Masters, and the person who reigned supreme in the Profound Sky Continent. His name was Huangji Wuyu…
Wuyu? (No desires?)
It was said that the Saint Emperor was unable to produce a heir, and he only had a few foster children. Could it be anything to do with the words “no desire”?
…If a man had no desires, then how was he different from a salted fish?!
“Ah, do you want to ask what kind of relationship I have with the Sovereign of the Seas?” Zi Hi asked with a faint smile.
Yun Che replied with a laugh, “Senior Zi’s perceptiveness is indeed illuminating. When we were at the Black Moon Merchant Guild and Senior Zi was able to move a whole ten kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal in one transaction, this junior was very sure that Senior Zi definitely had an exalted position within Supreme Ocean Palace. And just now, when we were in the Ocean Imperial Palace, the Purple Veined Divine Crystals that had been held in reserve were also on Senior Zi’s person. Furthermore, the Sovereign of the Seas is an extremely imposing person, but when she treated Senior Zi entirely differently from how she treated her own great elder. So this junior cannot help but be extremely curious in regards to Senior Zi’s identity.”
Zi Ji have a faint smile as he said, “Then why don’t you try guessing it.”
Yun Che had already made a rather enlightened guess in his heart so he replied in a very frank manner, “This junior has heard Yuanba mention that there are seven existences that are above the great elder within Supreme Ocean Palace, these seven people are extremely powerful profound practitioners known as the Seven Venerable Ones, and they have the colors red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue and purple in their names. The weakest of the seven is Venerable Red and the strongest is Venerable Purple, whose power is inferior to only the Sovereign of the Seas herself. Furthermore, Senior Zi just happens to have the color purple as a surname. So Senior Zi being the number two person within Supreme Ocean Palace may just pass muster as an explanation.”
“It is just that even though Senior Zi’s profound strength is extremely high, the pressure it gives this junior is less than that of Great Elder Mo Chenfeng. So it is definitely impossible for Senior Zi to be one of the Seven Venerable Ones… and because of this, the only answer that this junior can think of is that the both of you are…”
“Husband and wife!”
“…” Zi Ji gave a startled jolt before throwing his head back and laughing loudly.
“You are far worthier of the words ‘perceptiveness is illuminating’.” Zi Ji said with a great laugh, but his words did not confirm Yun Che’s guess, “If you are talking about status alone, I am indeed the husband of the Sovereign of the Seas. But the relationship of husband and wife that I have with her is utterly alien to your concept of what a husband and wife are.”
“…What does Senior Zi mean?”
“I have been married to her for a very, very long time. It was according to the wishes of our parents and the sect. However, when I married her, I had never dreamed that she would become the next Sovereign of the Seas. Her entire heart and soul was consumed by the profound way. This coupled with her extremely high innate talent paved the path for her to become the number one person in Supreme Ocean Palace. However, I have always been fascinated with commerce and I spent most of my time either at the Black Moon Merchant Guild headquarters or visiting the branches scattered around the Profound Sky Continent. I rarely ever return to Supreme Ocean Palace. I will normally only see the Sovereign of the Seas once every ten years on average and even though we are husband and wife, we don’t have many feelings for each other. Our union was ultimately meant to signify that the Black Moon Merchant Guild and Supreme Ocean Palace were one entity and not two powers that stood independent of one another.”
When he was relating his tale, Zi Ji’s tone was even and it was not melancholic in the least.
“Ah, so that’s how it is.” Yun Che nodded his head slowly, “This junior does not dare speculate on whether the husband and wife relationship Senior Zi and the Sovereign of the Seas shares is shallow or not, but there is one thing this junior is very convinced of. The Sovereign of the Seas places a lot of trust in Senior Zi. And it may just be that Senior Zi is the one person in this entire world that the Sovereign of the Seas truly trusts.”
“Hoho.” Zi Ji gave a brief laugh before pointing ahead, “We are here. This is where the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest is located.”
There was a gloomy blue light that was intermittently flickering about five kilometers ahead of them. There was a small island that was nearly perfectly round and on top of the island lay a dome-shaped barrier which fully engulfed it. The gloomy blue radiance was coming from the barrier that engulfed the small island.
The ocean surrounding the small island had sunk so low that it formed a trench around it. It was almost as if the seawater was being pushed away by some unimaginable power.
“This is the barrier that is used to seal the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.” Zi Ji said as he slowed down, “The Moon Slaughter Devil Nest is inside this barrier.”
“This place is located in the ocean and it is more than one thousand five hundred kilometers away from the mainland. Normally, no one will approach this place because there are always disciples of Supreme Ocean Palace keeping watch. Even if someone manages to enter by accident, the Sovereign of the Seas will be alerted immediately once that person comes into contact with the barrier.”
The four of them descended towards the island. Immediately, an incredibly strong repulsive force struck them. The strength of all four people was at the very peak of the Profound Sky Continent, but they immediately found it hard to breathe as an oppressive force constricted their chests.
“What a powerful barrier!” Xia Yuanba exclaimed in a low voice, “We are so far away and yet the repulsive force that struck us was strong… Master said that this barrier has persisted for more than ten thousand years, and that it could even be called the strongest barrier that exists within the Profound Sky Continent. It looks like the reputation it has for being indestructible is richly deserved.”
“Just based on its isolating ability alone, this barrier is indeed unparalleled.” Zi Ji said as he nodded his head, his expression filled with admiration and reverence, “The founders of Supreme Ocean Palace used more than half of the Tyrant Profound artifacts that exist in the Profound Sky Continent and used up an incredible amount of profound crystals in order to set up this barrier all those years ago. If not for this isolating barrier, that dreadful yin energy would have run rampant for the past ten thousand years and the consequences would have been unimaginable.”
“My Ocean Palace has flourished for ten thousand years and even though we have made our shares of mistakes through the years, we have also maintained this barrier for ten thousand years as well. So my Ocean Palace has always been able to search its own soul without being found wanting, truly living up to the name ‘Sacred Ground’!” Zi Ji’s calm voice was laced with pride. He strode forward slowly and the Ocean Emperor Seal, which was flickering with blue light, was already in his hand.
Yun Che took a quick breath before walking up to Zi Ji’s side. It had already been an entire seven years since Jasmine had first mentioned that she needed to find a Netherworld Udumbara Flower. In these seven years, the only place where it was possible to even find a Netherworld Udumbara Flower was the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest that laid enclosed in a barrier before him.
And now, Jasmine had already been cleansed of the devilish poison and all the materials that were needed to reconstitute her body had been gathered, save for that very Netherworld Udumbara Flower… Even though there was a very slim chance that they would be able to find one, here he was. He could only hope that he was able to find the miracle flower in full bloom during the short hundred breaths that he could stay in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.
The closer they drew to the barrier, the more they understood just how strong this barrier was. Yun Che was completely convinced that even if he had ten times the amount of strength, he would not even be able to make a dent in this barrier.
When Zi Ji stood right in front of the barrier, he raised the Ocean Emperor Seal and hesitated for a moment before turning around to address Yun Che, “Yun Che, even though we are already here, and I know that I shouldn’t say anything to dampen your hopes… but you should be very clear that the chance of finding a Netherworld Udumbara Flower in full bloom is extremely slim. Moreover, even if you do miraculously find one, how will you obtain it?”
“Those Supreme Ocean Elders who had seen the Netherworld Udumbara Flower all those years ago were all peerless powerhouses who were at the Sovereign Profound Realm. Even though they only looked at it from a distance for a few moments before swiftly departing, all of them suffered through a terrible illness after that. So it is hard to imagine the consequences of even coming close to that flower, much less picking it. And from my own knowledge, there has never once been a recorded instance where the Netherworld Udumbara Flower was successfully harvested in the history of Profound Sky Continent. The only records we have of this flower are the countless deaths that occurred because of it and its reputation as the ‘evilest of flowers’.”
“I have my own methods.” Yun Che said confidently.
The moment he had spoken those words, Jasmine’s voice also rang out in his mind, “If there is really a Netherworld Udumbara Flower, you must definitely not approach it. Even though you have the Dragon God Soul, if you come within thirty meters of it, you will definitely be wracked by extreme pain. And if you come within fifteen meters of it, you are simply begging for death! Leave the harvesting of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower to me, I will bring it into the Sky Poison Pearl fully intact.”
“I know.” Yun Che replied. When he was living in the Azure Cloud Continent, his master had taught him about the Netherworld Udumbara Flower as well and the words that he had emphasized the most when he had taught Yun Che about this flower was that “you must never ever come close to one.”
Zi Ji slowly nodded his head. He did not attempt to speak any further. Instead, he slapped the Ocean Emperor Seal heavily against the surface of the barrier in front of him.
Immediately, they could see the barrier ripple where it came into contact with the Ocean Emperor Seal. Zi Ji’s brows sank and he said in a solemn tone, “The moment the seal on the barrier is released, there will be a large amount of yin energy expelled. This yin energy is extremely domineering and if normal people and weak profound practitioners come into contact with it, their lives will be put in danger. The yin energy within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest is even more dreadful, and even if it is us, the moment we enter this place, our profound strength will be suppressed by two entire realms. At the same time, our vitality will also be drained away swiftly. Right now, you need to use all your strength to protect yourselves! You definitely must not underestimate the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest!”
Chapter 773 - Half-bloomed Udumbara (1)
Yun Che turned around and spoke to his two companions, “Yuanba, Xue’er, this place is extremely dangerous. I think it’s best that neither of you accompany me in and wait outside. And no matter whether this place has the thing that I am looking for or not, I will also leave as soon as possible.”
“That’s enough, Brother-in-Law.” Xia Yuanba shook his head as all of his muscles bulged fiercely and his body was surrounded by a peerless and domineering profound energy aura, “Since we have already come here, how can I not go in and have a look?”
“Big Brother Yun, if I am not by your side to protect you, all the Junior and Senior Masters will definitely blame me.” Feng Xue’er said in a soft voice, her expression completely devoid of fear.
“Alright.” Yun Che said as he grabbed Feng Xue’er’s tiny hand, “Xue’er, you mustn’t let go of my hand. Yuanba, you must be careful as well! If anything happens, remember that the first thing you should do is to run away!”
Sssss!!
A sound like thunder ripped through the air, as both the barrier and the Ocean Emperor Seal simultaneously emitted a glaring blue light. In the next instant, Zi Ji retreated swiftly as he gripped the Ocean Emperor Seal tightly while the a square-shaped hole that was two meters wide and long appeared in the barrier.
Tendrils of ebon darkness crazily gushed out from inside the barrier.
This was…
“We only have a hundred breaths, hurry up and go in!” Zi Ji shouted as he swiftly put away the Ocean Emperor Seal and rushed through the gap in the barrier.
“Be extremely cautious!” Yun Che did not have the leisure to think anymore, he pulled Feng Xue’er along as he rushed inside as well, with Xia Yuanba hot on his heels.
When they entered the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, it felt as if they had stepped into a desolate, icy abyss. A chill washed through them, body and soul. All of the hairs on their bodies instantly stood on end. Yun Che felt Feng Xue’er’s hands tightly grip onto him as she pressed herself against him.
The sun was shining really brightly over the South Ocean, and a hole that was two meters in length and width was big enough for the daylight to shine through and illuminate a large portion of the abyss. But, after they had taken three steps forward, they were thrust into the inky darkness once more; they could scarcely see even a glimmer of light.
When they turned around, all they could see of the entrance was a hazy white outline.
“The daylight is unable to penetrate this darkness!?” Xia Yuanba exclaimed in shock.
“This is darkness energy.” Yun Che said as his brows knit together. When he had fought Fen Juechen, he had used profound energy of this exact element, “This darkness energy will swallow all light while restricting your spirit perception at the same time… it may even affect your five senses!”
“That’s right!” Zi Ji’s voice rang out in the darkness, “This is only the entrance of the Devil Nest, the further you venture inside, the thicker the aura of darkness will be. Your spirit perception will be suppressed to barely a tenth of its normal strength! And your five senses will be similarly restricted! When you have reached the deepest parts of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, even your profound strength will be suppressed to the Emperor Profound Realm.”
“I am already beginning to feel… my profound strength being restricted.” Xia Yuanba said through gritted teeth as he raised an arm, “It feels as if my profound veins are being constricted by something, and I find it far harder to circulate my profound energy than normal.”
“…Senior Zi, we only have the space of a hundred breaths, so we need you to immediately bring us to the location where the Netherworld Udumbara Flower was last seen.” Yun Che said calmly.
“Yes!” Zi Ji replied.
Within the darkness, Feng Xue’er raised her arm and a scarlet cluster of Phoenix flames began to burn on top of her tender and white palm. The Phoenix flames that she had conjured were far purer than Yun Che’s Phoenix flames, so the light that these flames released would shine brightly over large distances. But within this Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, they could only illuminate the space that was within ten steps of them.
Furthermore, they were still only at the entrance.
Under the light of the Phoenix flames, Yun Che could see the floor that was still pitch-black despite being illuminated by the Phoenix flames. But he could not see the walls or the ceiling of the Devil Nest. It was clear to him now that this nest was far more spacious than he had expected it to be.
“Don’t worry, the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest only has one passageway, the path doesn’t fork or branch. As long as you follow the path, you will reach the end of the nest. Furthermore, this nest isn’t very deep. Given your current speed, you should be approaching the end of the nest in around thirty breaths.” Zi Ji was in front of them and he was moving at a respectable speed. Even though it was the first time he had entered the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, he had heard and read the records that the Supreme Ocean Palace had kept of this place so many times that he had practically committed it all to memory
“So that is to say that the Netherworld Udumbara Flower that was discovered one thousand three hundred years ago was located at the very end of the Devil Nest?”
“That is right.” Zi Ji replied as he nodded his head, “Ten thousand years ago, the seven Ocean Palace Ancestors who discovered the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest also plumbed its deepest reaches. The weakest among them was at the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, but once they had reached the deepest part of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, all of their profound strengths had dropped to the middle of the Emperor Profound Realm and their vitality was being drained away swiftly as well. Afterwards, they ran into the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign who was only at the initial stage of the Tyrant Profound Realm and they were massacred. Only one of the ancestors managed to escape with his life… After that, this ancestor established a law for us. The law was that we were forbidden from entering the deepest parts of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest unless we could confirm that Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was already dead.”
Zi Ji was steadily increasing his speed, but the profound energy aura he was releasing was growing weaker and weaker.
The radius of the light given off by the Phoenix flames were swiftly shrinking as well.
“So has the death of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign been confirmed?” Yun Che asked gravely.
“It’s only a Tyrant Profound beast after all.. Even the most powerful Sovereign Profound beasts only have a lifespan of a few thousands years. So no matter how strong a Tyrant Profound beast is, it will definitely not have a lifespan that extends past ten thousand years. Even though we have yet to discover its corpse… it should have long ago turned into dust within the darkness.” Zi Ji replied.
“Are there any clues as to where this yin energy is originating from?” Yun Che asked, his brows furrowing together as he looked ahead. At the same time, he checked his own profound veins.
The profound energy auras of Zi Ji, who was in front of him, Feng Xue’er, who was beside him, and Xia Yuanba, who was behind him, were all steadily growing weaker with each passing second. Zi Ji’s profound energy aura was weakening at the fastest rate, Xue’er’s aura weakened the second-fastest, while Xia Yuanba’s aura weakened at the slowest pace. Now that they had reached the middle of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, Zi Ji’s profound energy aura had already dropped to roughly the eighth level of the Tyrant Profound Realm.
Feng Xue’er and Xia Yuanba had both dropped to around the third level of the Sovereign Profound Realm.
And the reason why he could so clearly feel the change in their profound strength was because…
His profound veins had not been affected in the slightest!
He did not even find it hard to circulate his profound energy either.
Jasmine had indeed been right. The Evil God’s profound veins could not be restricted by ordinary means. The Heaven’s Might Soul Suppressing Formation would not be able to restrict them, and neither could the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest!
The suppressive power Feng Xue’er was facing was weaker than Zi Ji, and it was clear that it was because of her Phoenix bloodline!
As for Xia Yuanba, he was the person who possessed the Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins!
“This is the greatest unsolved mystery of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.” Zi Ji said as he exhaled, his breathing becoming slightly uneven, “The origin of this dreadful yin energy is something that my Ocean Palace wants to find out more than anyone else. But for the past ten thousand years, we have yet to find the answer to that question. Perhaps the origin of this yin energy is located in the deepest part of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. It is just that the yin energy in the deepest part of the nest is far too terrifying. It will cause a person’s profound strength to drop drastically and muddle their five senses. Perhaps even if the Sovereign of the Seas herself came into contact with it, she would unable to remain for longer than twenty breaths. So attempting to conduct a thorough search is a task that is as hard as soaring to the heavens.”
As their profound strength grew weaker, the scope of the spirit perception would grow smaller as well. It got harder and harder for them to breathe and their five senses kept growing weaker as well, to the point where they could not even hear the sounds of their own footsteps.”
“To think that such a place existed in this world. Sss…” Xia Yuanba said through gritted teeth. The feeling of having his profound strength and spirit perception suppressed was unbearable. It felt as though he had sunk into a deep marsh, and he found it difficult to even move his feet.
“Jasmine, have you figured out where this yin energy may have come from?” Yun Che asked in his heart. There was one thing that had caused him great concern… and that was the fact that Jasmine had kept silent ever since they had entered the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, and she had not said a single word since then.
“The yin energy in this place…” Jasmine’s voice grew extremely heavy, and Yun Che could hear traces of disbelief in that voice as well, “What exactly is going on here!?”
Yun Che ground to halt as he quickly asked, “Could it be that there is something irregular about this place?”
“This is something that is far beyond the word irregular!” Jasmine’s voice was frightfully low and heavy, “Based on strength alone, the aura of darkness in this place isn’t too intense, and one might say that it is actually rather weak. But… but if we are talking about the level of this darkness, it is so high that it is frightening.”
The words “so high that it was frightening” caused Yun Che’s heart to lurch in his chest. Because these words had been uttered by Jasmine herself.
“And as for the principles of darkness contained in this place, they are so profound that even I cannot understand them!”
Within the Sky Poison Pearl, Jasmine had a serious expression on her face, an expression that she had never adopted before. Her eyes which flashed with red light contained a fierce disbelief, “This level of darkness energy, I have not even seen it on the plane that I was born in, much less this plane! Just what sort of thing could release such an aura of darkness!!”
“…” Those few words of Jasmine had shocked Yun Che a million times more compared to when Zi Ji was telling him about the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.
“Yun Che! Leave this place immediately!” Jasmine suddenly yelled in a shrill voice, “The situation here is completely out of my expectation! There must be some incomparably terrifying object hidden inside this place! That’s the only explanation for this yin energy! Leave immediately and do not bother with the Netherworld Udumbara Flower right now! Because even if you…”
“Heeheeheehee… Kekekehahahaha… Huhuhuhu… Wahahahaha…”
At this time, an incomparably sinister laugh rang out from the darkness ahead of them. Ever since they had entered the depths of this place, their five senses were being heavily suppressed. Yet all of them could clearly hear this dreadful sound that sounded like the cackling of demons. It sounded like weeping and laughter all at the same time, and it seeped into their very souls.
“Ah!!” All four people came to an abrupt halt. Feng Xue’er had let out a cry of alarm as she dove into Yun Che’s chest, “Wha… what was that sound… it’s so scary!”
“The… there’s someone inside!?” Xia Yuanba said as he leaped forward to shield Yun Che and Feng Xue’er, as all the profound energy in his body surged crazily… However, even though he was Xia Yuanba, at this time, he was unable to combat the feeling of fear that coursed through his body.
Zi Ji was greatly shocked by the profound energy that Xia Yuanba had released with all of his strength. At this point, his profound strength had already been suppressed to the latter stages of the Emperor Profound Realm, but the enormous might and pressure that was being released by Xia Yuanba was shockingly belonged to the latter stages of Tyrant Profound Realm!
Zi Ji’s heart was completely flustered… The place where they were at was exceedingly close to the deepest part of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest and his own profound strength had already been suppressed by two entire realms, but Xia Yuanba’s strength had only been suppressed by one realm!
Even though it was only a difference of one realm, it was undoubtedly the difference between the heavens and the earth! Under normal circumstances, Xia Yuanba’s profound strength was weaker than Zi Ji’s, but right now, Xia Yuanba could kill him with a flick of his fingers.
Could this also be another advantage provided by the Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins?
“Wait! This sound…” Yun Che said as he got over his momentary fright. After he had taken the necessary precautions, his face suddenly relaxed as his eyes became filled with a triumphant light. He let go of Feng Xue’er and shot forward as he rounded a stone wall.
Immediately, the world before him was no longer pitch-black, instead he could see a bright, pulsing, purple light.
Within this dreadful darkness, Feng Xue’er’s Phoenix flames had only been able to light up an area that was roughly three meters wide. But the purple light that filled his vision radiated a full hundred meters outwards and it was indelibly burned into Yun Che’s eyes. It seemed as if even the deepest darkness in this world would be unable to devour this purple light.
The purple light gently flickered. However that bone-chilling and terrifying devilish laughter had also come from that purple light.
Yun Che’s heart began to pound in his chest like a hammer and his eyes widened into saucers as he stuttered, “That is… that is…”
“The Netherworld Udumbara Flower!!” Zi Ji’s voice rang out from behind Yun Che.
“Ah? That is… the thing that Big Brother Yun wants to find!?” Feng Xue’er cried in a voice filled with joy and amazement.
“That’s right! This is the Netherworld Udumbara Flower… The strange bright purple light, the ghostly wail that it emits every time it sways. This is exactly as my teacher described it!!” Yun Che said excitedly as both his hands curled into fists.
For an entire seven years, he had not been able to find a single trace of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. Yet today, he had entered the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest knowing that it would be a futile attempt, akin to trying to find a needle in a haystack… but who would have thought that he would have such a miraculous encounter!!
“Jasmine, we found it… we found it!!” Intense surprise and excitement had taken over Yun Che for a period of time. But at this moment, he noticed that something was wrong. Because he suddenly did not hear anything behind him, even the sound of breathing had completely disappeared.
Chapter 774 - Half-bloomed Udumbara (2)
Yun Che turned around in a flash. To his surprise, he found that Zi Ji, Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue’er all stood there with slack expressions on their face. Their eyes were completely blank and their pupils dilated and contracted intermittently. It was as if their souls had left their bodies.
Yun Che’s heart was filled with alarm as he rushed over and swiftly grabbed Feng Xue’er with his right hand, hugging her close. At the same time, his left hand shot out, releasing an energy wave that shoved Xia Yuanba and Zi Ji far away. He roared loudly and frantically, “Retreat! Don’t look at the purple light!!”
The three of them shuddered simultaneously, as if they were waking up from a dream. Feng Xue’er immediately hugged Yun Che tightly as she curled into his chest, not daring to raise her head again. Yun Che could clearly feel that her heart was racing. Zi Ji and Xia Yuanba practically fell over themselves as they scrambled backwards, and their expressions were ones of stark terror.
“This Netherworld Udumbara Flower indeed lives up to its reputation… No! It is far more terrifying than the legends describe it!” Zi Ji said as his heart hammered in his chest. His face was green and he was unable to compose himself at the moment. That purple light radiated at least one hundred meters outwards and despite that distance, it had so easily drawn him into this nightmare.
“To think that such a terrifying thing… actually exists in this world!” Xia Yuanba said in a rather traumatized voice, “Is it truly just a flower?”
“What did all of you experience just now? What exactly happened?” Yun Che asked as his brows furrowed. When Yun Che had stared at the purple light, he had only felt dazzled for a moment. He had not experienced any abnormality.
“Let’s not talk about these things right now!” Zi Ji said somberly. He leaned on a wall, not daring to look at the Netherworld Udumbara Flower again. Even then, he still had a vague feeling that a pair of demonic eyes were staring at him from some place and his heart was beating so fast that it felt like it would explode at any moment, “Yun Che! We only have a short hundred breaths! Right now, more than half of that time has passed! Your luck is extremely good. To think that you were actually able to find this dreadful Netherworld Udumbara Flower. Moreover, it is in half-bloom as well… Quickly seize this opportunity and retrieve it with the fastest possible speed! If we are not able to leave within the designated time limit, we will all be trapped here and die! There will be no chance of survival!”
“I understand!” Yun Che nodded his head, and once he had deposited Feng Xue’er beside the wall, he yelled out a warning, “Xue’er, Yuanba, lean against the wall! You definitely mustn’t turn back. I will harvest the Netherworld Udumbara Flower shortly!”
“Big Brother Yun… you must definitely be careful!” Feng Xue’er said in an extremely worried voice. Yun Che had told her about many of the legends associated with the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. But in that brief, horrible instant, she now knew that the dreadfulness of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower had far exceeded her wildest imagination.
“Don’t worry! Since I dared to come here, I definitely have a foolproof plan as well!”
Yun Che said this as he rounded the corner, taking more than ten steps towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. After that, he stopped and just as he was about to call Jasmine to go harvest the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, he heard Jasmine yell sternly, “Were you not listening to what I just said? Immediately leave this place! Don’t bother with the Netherworld Udumbara Flower anymore!”
Yun Che was taken aback, “But…”
“No buts from you!” Jasmine said in an extremely somber tone, “Haven’t you noticed that even though this Netherworld Udumbara Flower has already started to bloom, it is only in half-bloom!”
Yun Che was stunned by those words and he raised his head to stare that at that gently swaying purple light.
Within the deep darkness, the Netherworld Udumbara Flower’s appearance was still clear for all to see, as if it was right in front of Yun Che. It was slightly taller than three meters in height, its stem and leaves were greenish-black in color. In the middle of that fantastical bright, purple light, a bewitching flower could be seen. Every petal seemed to be made of radiant purple jade, but the flower bud was still faintly curled up and the petals had not fully unfurled. Even though it had an extremely bewitching and enchanting appearance, it had not fully bloomed yet.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was a desolate place, and the air was stale and stagnant. Yet the half-bloomed Netherworld Udumbara Flower gently swayed as it released a light purple mist that seemed to come from the underworld itself. And from time to time, it emitted that nightmarish sound that seemed to be a mix of both wailing and laughter. It was so sinister that it caused the souls of those who heard it to tremble.
And just as Jasmine had said, it had not fully bloomed yet!
Given Yun Che’s knowledge regarding plants and herbs, even though this Netherworld Udumbara Flower had not fully bloomed, it looked like it would not be long before it reached full bloom. Perhaps it would take a few more days, or even a few more hours, for it to bloom!
At this moment, the purple light suddenly flashed, and the scene in front of Yun Che blurred before becoming awash in a sea of purple.
A boundless purple world. It was as if he had stepped into some fantastical wonderland, and it caused his heart to become intoxicated and bewildered. All of the nervousness, apprehension and caution in his heart… seemed to melt away completely along with the rest of the emotions in his heart. He became completely relaxed and he felt as if his body had become as light as a feather. He could not help but desire to float up in the air so that he could fly even deeper into this purple-colored world, to the point where he could become one with this fantastical world…
After being lost in delirium for that brief instant, Yun Che jerked back to wakefulness. The purple-colored world instantly shattered before his eyes as it morphed into a pitch-black world which flickered with a bewitching purple light.
What a terrifying ability to invade the soul… Yun Che thought as his forehead was matted in cold sweat and his heart thumped wildly in his chest. A Netherworld Udumbara Flower that had not fully bloomed and was nearly one hundred meters distant from him had actually been able to hypnotize him, someone who possessed the Dragon God Soul, for a brief period of time!
If he had drawn close to it, the consequences would have been unimaginable!
Jasmine had told him that if he was within thirty meters of the flower, he would be wracked by indescribable pain and if he was within fifteen meters of the flower, he was practically committing suicide… Right now, Yun Che was completely convinced that these were not words that were just meant to frighten him.
“Even though it hasn’t fully bloomed, it is about seventy to eighty percent done! Will the difference be that drastic if you used this instead of a fully bloomed one?” Yun Che asked in a low voice as he looked to the side.
“It is the difference between the earth and the sky!” Jasmine said sternly, “Only a Netherworld Udumbara Flower in full bloom can perfectly merge my soul with my reconstituted body. The level of power of a Netherworld Udumbara Flower that has not fully bloomed is far from enough and even if you plucked ten thousand of them, they would not be able to perfectly merge my body and my soul. If we attempt to force a merger, I will end up becoming like the current Fen Juechen. My body will be wracked with intense pain due to the rejection of my soul and within a few short years, my physical body will die once more and my soul will be destroyed.”
Yun Che, “…”
“No…” Yun Che clenched both his fists tightly as he spoke through gritted teeth, his expression colored with discontent, “It was so hard for us to even find a clue regarding the Netherworld Udumbara Flower… and now it is right in front of us. It is so close to being in full bloom as well…”
“If we miss this chance, the next time it will bloom will be an entire twenty-four years later… Furthermore, we will only be able to enter this Moon Slaughter Devil Nest five hundred years later…”
How could he let go of this Netherworld Udumbara Flower that they had spent seven whole years to find!
“Yun Che, you better listen up and listen good!” Jasmine said gravely, “I desire to obtain a fully bloomed Netherworld Udumbara Flower more than anyone else! But right now, even if there was a fully bloomed Netherworld Udumbara Flower before our eyes, much less this half-bloomed one, we would still not be able to obtain it! Right now, what you need to do is to leave this place quickly!”
“…Why?” Yun Che did not understand and he made no move to retreat as well… he could hear the discontent in Jasmine’s voice and he was just as discontented as well!
“This place is terrifying beyond the boundaries of what you can imagine!” Even though the intensity of the darkness energy in this place is extremely weak, but the level of this darkness energy is so high that even I have never seen it before. If my body and soul were whole, the darkness energy in this place would not be able to affect me in the least, but right now, I only have a spirit body. I don’t have a physical body to anchor me so I have no way of keeping darkness energy of this level from eating away at my existence! If I were to materialize my spirit body in this place, I would suffer very serious injuries in a matter of minutes and even my soul origin would receive extreme damage!”
Yun Che, “…”
“My spirit body was being eroded by that devilish poison for many years and it’s only now that I have completely escaped from its clutches. But I am still many times weaker than I would be in my complete state! I will only slowly regain my true strength after my body has been reconstituted. But if my current spirit body is eroded by darkness energy again… the consequence is that I will not be able to ever fully recover! And my spirit may even end up dissipating forever!!”
Every single word that came from Jasmine’s mouth was extremely heavy and they rooted Yun Che in place.
“So even if that was a Netherworld Udumbara Flower in full bloom, I would also not be able to materialize and harvest it. It is even more impossible for you to do it.” Jasmine’s tone grew more serious by the second, “I am not exaggerating anything in the least! For darkness energy of this level to be continuously released for the past ten thousand years, there must be something that is far more terrifying than anything that you could think of that is hiding in this Moon Slaughter Devil Nest! Even though I am in the Sky Poison Pearl right now, I can still feel my spine tingle in a way that it never has before. Even my spirit perception has been suppressed to a certain…”
Jasmine suddenly stopped talking, causing Yun Che’s heart to skip a beat. Then she started shouting sternly, “Hurry up and leave!! There is a living creature hiding somewhere above the Netherworld Udumbara Flower… and it is looking at you right now! Flee immediately!”
“What?” A jolt of shock raced through Yun Che’s heart and he unwittingly raised his head to look at the ceiling above the Netherworld Udumbara Flower but all he could see was inky darkness.
At this moment, Zi Ji howled at him from behind, “Yun Che! What are you doing!? You only have thirty breaths left, if you don’t hurry up, you won’t be able to make it!”
Yun Che did not have time to hesitate any further, he quickly turned around and yelled, “We’re getting out of here!”
“But that Netherworld Udumbara Flower…” Xia Yuanba said as he hesitated for a moment. Because the purple light was still shining and that meant that Yun Che had not been able to successfully obtain the flower.
“Don’t worry about it, let’s hurry up and leave!!” Yun Che shoved Yuanba a long way towards the exit with his palm. He grabbed Feng Xue’er’s hand tightly and he used the light of the Phoenix flames to guide him as he rushed towards the exit at the fastest speed possible.
“Is that ‘monster’ following us?” Yun Che asked anxiously. Because they had just travelled down to his path to reach the deepest part of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, they were familiar with it, so they fled at a much greater speed than when they had arrived.
“No, it isn’t”. Jasmine replied.
“…” Yun Che let out a small sigh of relief as a thought flashed through his mind: A living creature that is hiding within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. Could this be the legendary Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign?
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign should have died more than six thousand years ago. It was not possible for a Tyrant Profound beast to survive for ten thousand years!
Furthermore, the urgency in Jasmine’s voice told him that the monster hidden in the darkness was a creature that was too strong for him to fight… So it would definitely not be the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign which was only at the Tyrant Profound Realm.
Just what was it!?
“What kind of monster is it? Do you have any insight as to what it’s power level is?” Yun Che asked.
“It is far bigger than a normal human. And as for its strength… it should roughly be at the sixth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm! The caveat being that my suppressed spirit perception might not have captured its power level correctly!” Jasmine said in a doubtful voice.
The sixth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm… Yun Che increased his speed yet again as a complicated light flashed in his eyes.
“We still have ten breaths worth of time left. Don’t worry, we’ll make it.” Zi Ji said as his voice grew more relieved but his heart was still shaking with adrenaline and fear… When he had spoken to the Sovereign of the Seas, he had told her that he would yank Yun Che out of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest once fifty breaths had passed. He never would have thought that they would be in this desperate situation. If they were not able to leave this place within one hundred breaths, the four of them would all die in this place.
“It’s just that Brother-in-law was not able to obtain the Netherworld Udumbara Flower.” Xia Yuanba said in a somewhat disconsolate voice.
“That was to be expected. Given how terrifying the Netherworld Udumbara Flower is, even if the Four Sacred Masters were to join hands to obtain one, they would definitely not be able to survive the attempt.” Zi Ji said as he sighed. Even though Yun Che’s objective had not been fulfilled, Supreme Ocean Palace had lived up to its end of the bargain.
Just a few breaths before the opening in the barrier closed, the four companions finally saw a hazy glimmer of light appear in front of them.
“We’re at the exit, let’s hurry up and get out of here!” Zi Ji, who was the furthest ahead, yelled as his figure blurred and he dashed towards the exit.
“Brother-in-law, hurry!” Xia Yuanba yelled, he was hot on Zi Ji’s heels and the moment he exited the barrier, he turned around, fearing that Yun Che was lagging behind.
The exit was right in front of them and once they left, Yun Che would only be able to enter this place again five hundred years from now at the minimum.
Even if he managed to enter five hundred years later, there were no guarantees that they would be able to find a Netherworld Udumbara Flower like they had today.
Yun Che began to slow down. He used both hands to give a mighty shove to Feng Xue’er’s shoulder, flinging her far out of the opening of the barrier. Then, he stopped right at the opening itself.
“Yun Che! What are you doing… hurry up and get out!” Jasmine had guessed his intentions in a second and her small face immediately went pale.
“Brother-in-law!!”
“Big Brother Yun!!”
One breath later, Yun Che still had not emerged from the opening made in the barrier. Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue’er both realized that something was wrong at the same time. Xia Yuanba’s expression changed dramatically while Feng Xue’er’s pretty face lost all of its color as they both rushed towards the opening at the same time.
“Don’t worry about me!” Yun Che roared as he pushed both his arms out at full strength towards the opening. He blew the nearby Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue’er, neither of whom could react fast enough to defend themselves, at least three hundred meters away.
“I am going to wait for the Netherworld Udumbara Flower to reach full bloom, so I’m going to have to stay here for a few days… Don’t worry about me, don’t forget that I have that ‘profound ark’!”
“Big Brother Yun…NO!!!” Feng Xue’er’s teary cry could be heard from outside the barrier.
“Hurry up and leave!!!” Jasmine yelled with such anxiety and fury that it caused Yun Che’s heart and soul to quake, “The laws of space in this area have long ago been distorted by the darkness energy, even the Primordial Profound Ark…”
Ssssss!!!
With a sizzling pop that sounded like the discharge of lightning, the opening in the barrier that had lasted for one hundred breaths instantly snapped shut. The entire barrier glowed with a flowing blue light which blended with the barrier. Not even a small scratch could be seen on it presently, much less an opening, as it completely and perfectly separated what was inside the barrier from the outside world.
——————————————————
Chapter 775 - Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign (1)
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
Amidst ear-shattering explosions, continuously exploding Phoenix flames had dyed a large swathe of the sky and sea a startling crimson. As those frenzied flames fell from the sky, the small islets that came into contact with them immediately turned to magma.
The dreadful sounds and power being displayed had long ago alerted Supreme Ocean Palace but the Phoenix flames continued to wreak havoc with no signs of stopping and they kept growing hotter and wilder with each passing minute.
“Princess Snow, please stop! This barrier can’t be forcibly blasted open! Even if the Four Sacred Masters were to join hands, they would also not be able to do so!!”
Zi Ji was also at the eighth stage of the Sovereign Profound Realm. But when he faced these terrifyingly powerful divine flames, he also had no choice but to keep his distance, he even had to keep retreating.
“Big Brother Yun… BIG BROTHER YUN!!!” In front of the barrier sealing the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, Feng Xue’er screamed as she crazily hurled phoenix fire. But no matter how the Phoenix flames assaulted the barrier, not a single scratch was formed on it. It did not even quiver in the slightest and it would only give out threads of rippling light every now and then.
“Little Sister Xue’er, you need to stop at once!!”
Xia Yuanba had also been forced to keep his distance. He had wanted to approach Xue’er many times but her Phoenix flames were simply too dreadful. In the blink of an eye, he had already been blown half a kilometer away by those Phoenix flames. He could only howl helplessly and anxiously but no matter how he and Zi Ji tried to counsel Feng Xue’er, they simply could not get through to her.
At this moment, the Phoenix flames suddenly stopped and the firelight that had shrouded the entire island began to wane. Xia Yuanba thought that Feng Xue’er had started to come to her senses but just as he was about to advance… An enormous and extremely glaring fire lotus gorgeously bloomed around Feng Xue’er.
Boom!!!!
An all-encompassing wave of heat assaulted Zi Ji and Xia Yuanba. They both felt a pressure on their chests, as if they had been smashed by a giant hammer that had come from the depths of a fiery purgatory. They fiercely shot backwards and their clothes and hair started to burn.
This was a Star Scorching Demon Lotus performed with all of Feng Xue’er’s might and it was also the strongest attack that the Phoenix flames could display on this world! It was more than ten times stronger than the strongest Phoenix flames that Yun Che could produce.
“Little Sister Xue’er… hurry up… and stop!!”
Xia Yuanba’s cries were now tinged with pain. He retreated at full speed. His body felt like it was being wrapped in purgatorial flames as every inch of skin was being burned to the point where the pain was unbearable. It was a long time before the burning sensation finally subsided to a level he could endure. He anxiously extinguished the flames burning on his body as he began to noisily gasp for air. Every single breath that he expelled from his chest was boiling hot.
The Phoenix flames that had been raging for a long time finally began to die down as their light swiftly receded. Xia Yuanba took ragged gasps as he desperately sought to regain his composure. It was only then that he discovered that he had been blasted five kilometers away from the island that the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was located in.
Even though he had seen Yun Che use his Phoenix flames before, he had never once seen Feng Xue’er in action. It was only now that he came to the startling realization that this girl, who was as beautiful as fairy and who would tenderly and gently call him “Bulky Big Brother” was actually extremely terrifying!
On the other side, even though Zi Ji had not been pushed as far as Xia Yuanba, the trembling of his pupils were no less intense than Xia Yuanba’s… His profound strength was the same as Feng Xue’er’s, both of them were at the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm. And when it came down to it, he was still slightly stronger than her. But right now, he was utterly convinced that if he were to face Feng Xue’er in battle, he would definitely eat a loss!
The eighth stage of the Sovereign Profound Realm coupled with the purest Phoenix bloodline and Phoenix flames; it was a power that was definitely able to match the profound practitioners of the Four Great Sacred Grounds who were at the ninth stage of the Sovereign Profound Realm!
The light of the flames had completely dissipated but the sea breeze was still boiling hot. It was just that the original island had completely disappeared and the only thing that was left was an enormous ocean-blue barrier shimmering on top of the sea as it sealed off the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest from the rest of the world. The island that had existed outside the barrier had been completely obliterated by Feng Xue’er’s Star Scorching Demon Lotus.
“Why did it turn out like this… Big Brother Yun… Big Brother Yun…”
Feng Xue’er floated above the barrier all alone, her shoulders faintly shaking. She stared at unharmed blue barrier dumbly, her eyes filled with misery and heartbreaking words spilling from her lips.
“Little Sister Xue’er, don’t be too worried.” Xia Yuanba said as he quickly flew to her side. His appearance was quite pathetic, his face and his entire body had been burnt black, his clothes were dotted with innumerable holes due to the flames, and even half of his eyebrows had been singed off. However he bore no resentment towards Feng Xue’er. Instead he now liked her even more… Because she had fallen apart on behalf of Yun Che.
“Brother-in-law is a very clever person… Since he chose to remain inside that place, he definitely has an objective he needs to fulfill and also a method of escape.” Xia Yuanba said as he tried to comfort Feng Xue’er. But his own palms were soaked in cold sweat and he was so anxious that he felt like his heart was about to burn to cinders.
“But… that place is so dangerous. Senior Zi also said that if someone were to be trapped inside there, that person would… that person would…” Feng Xue’er sobbed, her voice quivering with barely restrained weeping.
“Don’t worry, it will be alright.” Xia Yuanba did his best to remain calm and comfort Xue’er, “Brother-in-law was the one who made the decision to remain in that place, he wasn’t forcibly imprisoned within. So he definitely must be confident that he can get out. Between Brother-in-law and Zi Ji, the one you should trust is definitely Brother-in-law! Just now Brother-in-law himself said that he would be out in a few days. Moreover…”
Xia Yuanba quietly ascertained where Zi Ji was standing before concentrating his profound energy and sending a sound transmission to Xue’er, “Don’t forget, Brother-in-law still has the Primordial Profound Ark and he can teleport tens of thousands of kilometers in the blink of an eye. So it should be a simple matter… for him to escape from that place.”
The three words “Primordial Profound Ark” caused Feng Xue’er’s teary eyes to immediately sparkle prettily. Xia Yuanba’s words was not an empty consolation and it helped her confused and frightened heart regain a semblance of calm.
“I also think that there is no need to worry too much.” Zi Ji flew over from afar. Even though his body was scorched all over, his calm and tranquil attitude remained, “Even though I am convinced that absolutely nobody on this earth can break this barrier, do not forget that Yun Che’s master is an expert who has transcended this world. He was able to bring Yun Che back from the Primordial Profound Ark all those years ago, so breaking out of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest should be as easy as waving his hand.”
“Yes, yes, yes, that is definitely the case.” Xia Yuanba quickly went along with Zi Ji as he nodded his head vigorously. But his anxiety was not eased in the least… because he was extremely clear that Yun Che’s so-called “master” was fake.
“What just happened!?”
A stern voice echoed from the distant north and at the same time, they could feel a energy wave pressing in from afar. Both the tone and the actions of the approaching person were fraught with anxiety.
Xia Yuanba turned around and saw a blue-robed man flying over at an astonishing speed. Behind him, thirty meter high waves were roaring in his wake as the sea had been agitated by the profound energy he was releasing. And far behind that blue-robed man trailed four people who were all clothed in red.
“Supreme Ocean Palace’s great elder Mo Chenfeng!” Xia Yuanba blurted out in surprise.
The four red-clothed people trailing behind him rooted Feng Xue’er in place for a while. But after that she excitedly took flight as she went to meet them, “Royal father, Grandfather, Crown Prince, and… Great Grandfather!?”
As they saw Xue’er come to welcome them, the four red-clothed men also slowed to a halt, their faces showing their great excitement at seeing her again. Feng Hengkong cried out emotionally, “It’s Xue’er… It’s really Xue’er!”
Feng Xue’er had just used the full power of her Phoenix flames to assault the barrier and in doing so, she had radiated an overly strong Phoenix aura that spread out over fifty kilometers. This had startled the members of the Divine Phoenix Sect who were currently staying in Supreme Ocean Palace. The only person in this world who was able to release such a refined and pure Phoenix aura was Feng Xue’er!
At that point, all four of them dropped everything else and flew towards the south at full speed. Now they had once again been reunited with the Feng Xue’er, who had left the Divine Phoenix Sect for several months already.
“Great Grandfather?” After hearing Feng Xue’er’s cry of surprise, Xia Yuanba’s gaze immediately fell on the red-clothed man who stood on the extreme right. He had a head full of white hair and his face was as ruddy as scarlet flames. But his eyes seemed to be two burning flames and just meeting them caused Xia Yuanba’s eyes to feel a burning sensation.
Little Sister Xue’er’s great grandfather… Oh that was right! It was the man whom master called the number one person in the entire Divine Phoenix Sect… Feng Zukui!!
Xia Yuanba had heard Spiritual Master Ancient Blue personally mention this person before. He had said that Feng Zukui’s profound strength was already at the ninth stage of the Sovereign Profound Realm one hundred years ago and because of his intimacy with the Phoenix flame, his overall strength was even higher than Spiritual Master Ancient Blue!
Outside of the Four Great Sacred Grounds, he was also the undisputed number one person in the Profound Sky Continent!
Feng Zukui very rarely appeared anymore and even among the Divine Phoenix disciples, very few of them had personally seen him before. But it was not surprising to see him attending this Devil Sword Conference.
“Mister Zi, what happened here?”
There was only that blue barrier below which was still shining on the surface of the sea, all the other islets and the island itself had disappeared without a trace. Mo Chenfeng’s brows twitched violently as his face was colored with shock.
Zi Ji made a small gesture before saying, “We didn’t meet any great enemy. It is only that Yun Che is still stuck inside the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.”
“What!?” Mo Chenfeng gasped in astonishment.
“However, it wasn’t because he couldn’t make out it in time. Rather, he chose to remain inside. Zi Ji said, “And after hearing what he said, it seemed like he was unable to harvest the Netherworld Udumbara Flower because it had not reached full bloom yet. He decided to remain inside so that he could wait for it to fully bloom.”
“This…” Mo Chenfeng’s face twitched before he said in a deep voice, “This is the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest we are talking about. If one is sealed inside, the only thing awaiting that person is death! The Sovereign of the Seas has personally said that even she would not be able to last in that place for more than six hours! For him to decide to remain inside there… it’s no different from digging his own grave!!”
Zi Ji shook his head in disagreement, “If it was any other person, that would most certainly be the case. But Yun Che was able to return alive from the Primordial Profound Ark. Furthermore, even though he is a haughty man, he is not so arrogant as to gamble his own life by underestimating the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.”
He turned around and faced the barrier surrounding the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest before calmly continuing, “Right now, I am actually very curious to see whether he will really be able to survive for long within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. And whether he will be able to escape this isolation barrier… Also whether he will be able to successfully obtain the Netherworld Udumbara Flower that nobody has ever approached and lived!”
Mo Chenfeng fell silent.
“However, my anticipation will only continue until this time tomorrow.” Zi Ji said, “Yun Che’s ‘master’ may have the ability to transcend the heavens but Yun Che’s strength falls slightly short of the mid stages of the Sovereign Profound Realm and his vitality is far below even that. In a place where even the Sovereign of the Seas is not able to survive for six hours… If he is not brought out by his ‘master’ within a day, then it is impossible that he will still be alive. At which time, that ‘master’ of his either does not know of his predicament or simply doesn’t exist in the first place.”
“Mister Zi has indeed reminded me of something. The laws of space within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest are very different from the laws of space here. Among these differences is the fact that all Sound Transmission Jade and spatial profound artifacts will be rendered useless in there. If Yun Che’s trump card is to use a sound transmission to get his ‘master’ to save him or to use a spatial profound artifact to escape this place, then he has truly dug his own grave this time.” Mo Chenfeng said in a relaxed voice.
“…” Zi Ji’s brows sank by several degrees and his originally calm face was now creased by uncertainty and pity, “In short, we should return to the Ocean Palace first so we can make our report to the Sovereign of the Seas. We need to devote all our efforts to getting ready for the Devil Sword Conference. We can’t afford to be distracted by anything else.”
“Yes.” Mo Chenfeng said as he nodded his head as he turned around to leave. It was not important that the island that the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was located on was destroyed. Because the barrier sealing the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was absolutely impregnable and indestructible.
“Xue’er, why are you here?” Feng Hengkong asked in both concern and agitation. The three people that had come with him were Feng Ximing, Feng Tianwei, and last but not least… Feng Zukui!
“Xue’er, you… have you been well? During the past few months you spent in the Blue Wind Nation, has anyone… especially that bastard Yun Che, bullied you!?” Feng Ximing asked anxiously. As he said this, both of his hands were trembling, his face had gone completely red and his eyes were tightly locked onto Xue’er. He was so agitated that he looked like he was going to lose control of himself.
“I came together with Big Brother Yun. I did not inform Royal Father because I was not sure if Big Brother Yun would bring me along. Great Grandfather, you actually came as well, Xuer’er has already… not seen you for the longest time now.” Feng Xue’er bowed gently towards Feng Zukui.
“On the other hand, during the three years that Xue’er was unconscious, I went to see Xue’er many times.” Upon seeing Feng Xue’er, Feng Zukui’s mood had become extremely good. A weak and shallow smile suddenly appeared on his calm and imposing face. After he gave Feng Xue’er a few deep and measured looks, the red light in his eyes immediately gleamed even brighter and the smile on his face grew deeper as well. He nodded his head heavily as he sighed, “Xue’er, you are truly the precious gem of our entire clan. In just a few short years, your Phoenix profound strength has actually exceeded your own father and grandfather. Perhaps by this time next year, even this old fogey will be left in your dust! Hahahahahaha!”
Feng Zukui threw his head back in laughter and everyone could hear the immense elation and joy contained in that great laugh. From the moment Feng Hengkong could walk and talk, he had only seen Feng Zukui laugh four times and every single time he had laughed, it was because of Feng Xue’er. This time, his laughter was far more joyous and jubilant than it had been on any of the previous occasions. He took a step forward and bowed as he said, “Grandfather, it has to be said that Xue’er’s transformation is truly thanks to that Yun Che. Three years ago, Yun Che had imparted the fifth and sixth stages of the ‘World Ode of the Phoenix’ to Xue’er on the Primordial Profound Ark. This event allowed Xue’er to attain a true mastery of her Phoenix flames and also caused her strength to soar.”
“Even though Yun Che brought a great calamity down on our heads a few months ago, he has always been sincere towards Xue’er. And Xue’er even owes him her current powers and her very life…” Feng Hengkong shut his eyes before saying, “Therefore, during these few months, the burning desire to avenge my sons… is something that I am more than willing to forego. I have no desire to pursue vengeance on behalf of the other two grand elders either.”
Feng Tianwei’s gaze swept across the surrounding area and he said with furrowed brows, “Xue’er, you said that you came here with Yun Che. Why are you here by yourself right now?”
These words caused Xue’er’s delicate body to faintly tremble as two tears instantly fell from her beautiful eyes. Even though Yun Che was the person that she trusted the most in this world, and even though she knew about the existence of the Primordial Profound Ark… she could not quell the intense fear and worry that gnawed at her soul.
Feng Hengkong and the two other elders were immediately struck dumb. Feng Ximing, on the other hand, practically jumped up in anger, the hair on his head standing on end and his features warping as a bestial snarl tore from his throat, “Did… did he bully you! Did he… he… where the hell is he right now!? Bastard! Beast! I will kill him… I will rip him to shreds!!”
Feng Hengkong glared at Feng Ximing fiercely before he asked Xue’er in a low voice, “Xue’er, what exactly happened here?”
Xue’er bit her trembling lips and it was only after a long while that she could finally speak in a grief-stricken voice, “Big Brother Yun, he… he is trapped inside the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.”
“What!?” Feng Tianwei’s and Feng Hengkong’s faces immediately lost all color. Feng Ximing was taken aback as well but his face immediately twisted into an expression of undisguisable jubilation.
The existence of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was known to only one other sect besides the Four Great Sacred Grounds… and that sect was the Divine Phoenix Sect.
“There is no need to be so worried.” Feng Zukui’s expression remained calm as he spoke, “I just heard the discussion between Supreme Ocean Palace’s Mister Zi and great elder Chen Mo Feng. Yun Che seems to have chosen to stay behind, so he definitely has confidence that he can escape. Furthermore his master is the legendary ‘Old Man Duotian’ who has the ability to transcend the heavens. So being sealed within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest may not end in his death.”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Feng Xue’er’s tears stabbed into Feng Hengkong’s heart like needles, so he hurriedly nodded his head in agreement as he said, “Your great grandfather is completely right! If anyone else was trapped in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, it would indeed spell their doom! But Yun Che is different! Even the Primordial Profound Ark couldn’t contain him all those years back. You should follow your royal father back to the Ocean Palace first and maybe by the time you wake up tomorrow, he will already be out of this place.”
Feng Xue’er raised a jade hand as she wiped away the tears from her snowy face. She softly said, “I know… I believe more than anyone else that Big Brother Yun will definitely… definitely come out of there in one piece. So, I will wait here for Big Brother Yun. Great Grandfather, Grandfather, Royal Father, Crown Prince Brother, Xue’er is alright. All of you should return to the Ocean Palace first. Xue’er will immediately come and see you all once Big Brother Yun returns.”
“Ssss…” Feng Xue’er’s words and the resolute expression on his face caused Feng Ximing’s smooth face to once again warp in anger as he clenched both his fist tightly and viciously murmured under his breath: Yun Cheeeee! Go down to the eighteen layers of hell within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest! Die! Die! DIEEEEEEE!!!!
“Xue’er…”
“You don’t need to advise her any further.” Xia Yuanba walked over as he said with a serious expression on his face, “No matter what you say, she will definitely not leave this place right now. Return to the Ocean Palace first, I will wait here with her. And once she has regained some of her composure, I will advise her to return as well.”
“This man is Xia Yuanba, Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s disciple who possesses the legendary Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins! He is Yun Che’s brother-in-law.” Feng Hengkong sent a sound transmission to both Feng Tianwei and Feng Zukui.
The look in both Feng Tianwei’s and Feng Zukui’s eyes changed drastically once they heard those words.
Feng Hengkong knitted his brows before he let out a soft sigh, “Since that is the case… Xue’er, we will be waiting at the Flame Heart Palace that is located in the northwest part of the Ocean Palace. If anything happens, you must definitely send a sound transmission to inform us… No matter how anxious and worried you are, your royal father will be even more worried and anxious than you. No matter what, don’t be too headstrong and put too many burdens on yourself.”
Feng Xue’er’s eyes grew misty as she said, “Royal Father…”
“Royal Father, this place is still Supreme Ocean Palace, so how can we leave Xue’er here all by herself? I request that Royal Father allow this son to stay behind to accompany…”
“Shut your mouth!”
Before Feng Ximing could even finish what he was saying, he was sternly cut off by Feng Hengkong. He did not spare Feng Ximing another glance as he turned towards Feng Tianwei and Feng Zukui, “Royal Father, Grandfather, let us leave this place for now. If we remain, it will be harder for Xue’er to calm down.
The four people of the Divine Phoenix Sect departed and Zi Ji left along with them. Only Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue’er were left in the now quiet ocean region. They mutely stared at the blue-colored barrier, neither of them speaking a single sword for a long time.
“Brother-in-law, you will definitely be alright!” Xia Yuanba tightly clenched a fist as he murmured these words over and over again in his head.
“Big Brother Yun, Xue’er will wait here for your safe return.” Feng Xue’er placed both hands on her chest and she closed her beautiful eyes, her snowy lips softly whispering, “If Big Brother Yun does not return in a day, then Xue’er will wait a day. If you don’t return in a year, then Xue’er will wait a year… If… if Big Brother Yun never returns, then Xue’er will remain in this place forever… so that I can accompany Big Brother Yun here forever…”
Chapter 776 - Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign (2)
The sealed Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was blanketed in inky darkness.
For the first time in his life, Yun Che experienced what true darkness was. The world he was trapped in seemed like a bottomless abyss; there was not a single trace of light or life. In this world of absolute darkness, he could not see anything else, he did not even know where he was and what direction he was facing. His mind was under a lot of pressure and he started to feel a little dizzy.
“Yun Che… Do you know what you’ve just done!” Jasmine yelled through gritted teeth as her voice echoed in Yun Che’s mind.
“Of course I know.” Yun Che replied as he took a deep breath, trying his best to compose himself. Within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, even drawing breath was several times more difficult than it was normally.
“I had already told you very clearly, there isn’t any way that I can materialize to go harvest the Netherworld Udumbara Flower in this place. And I was even more clear about the fact that there was no way that you could do it with your current ability. You won’t even be able to go anywhere near it, you…”
“I know.” Yun Che said with a somber expression on his face, “I will definitely not question what you have told me. But we have already looked for the Netherworld Udumbara Flower for a whole seven years! And during these seven years, whether it was in the Profound Sky Continent or the Illusory Demon Realm, we have not been able to find even a clue regarding it. Now there is one that is growing in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest and it is extremely likely that it is the only Netherworld Udumbara Flower in this world! Furthermore, it is right on the brink of fully blooming… so how can you expect me to just give up on it like that!”
“When I saw this Netherworld Udumbara Flower, I had an powerful feeling that if we left like this, we might never see a second Netherworld Udumbara Flower in our lives ever again. Which also means that you will never be able to obtain a new body.” Yun Che said solemnly, “Furthermore… furthermore, truth be told, I’m not too afraid of that Netherworld Udumbara Flower. Just now, even though it was able to enthrall me briefly once I entered within a hundred meters of it, the moment I concentrated I was able to break out of its spell. My condition was far less serious than Xue’er and the others. This should be related to the fact that I possess the Dragon God Soul… and if my Dragon God Soul is fully unleashed, it should be very possible for me to resist its ability to steal one’s soul. At the very least, let me try it out.”
“Foolishness!” Jasmine said sharply, “Do you know how big a difference there is between a Netherworld Udumbara Flower that has fully bloomed and one that has not? Once a Netherworld Udumbara Flower reaches full bloom, its ability to steal your soul will grow at least ten times stronger!
“…” Yun Che stammered out in a stunned voice, “Te… ten times!?”
“For the past seven years, since I mentioned the Netherworld Udumbara Flower until now, I have always asked you to locate one but I have never ever once asked you to actually go obtain one. It is not something that a person from this plane, such as you, can even come into contact with!” Jasmine’s voice was filled with fury and Yun Che could well imagine that she was so shocked, upset and frustrated that she could barely contain the desire to smack him so hard that he flew tens of kilometers.
“Are you thinking that if you aren’t able to succeed, you will be able to escape using the Primordial Profound Ark? If you are, then you are truly naive! Having to endure more than ten thousand years of darkness energy which is of such a high quality slowly eating away at it, the laws of space in this place have long since been distorted! You will barely even be able to use the Primordial Profound Ark to move around in this Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, much less use it to leave this place!”
Yun Che, “…”
“Also, I clearly just warned you that there was a living creature hiding in this place! It’s strength is at least at the sixth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm! Furthermore, to be able to survive in such a dark environment, it is very likely going to be an extremely evil creature! Perhaps you will die under the claws of this foul beast before you can even approach the Netherworld Udumbara Flower! And even if you wanted to flee at that moment, you wouldn’t be able to!”
“You’ve basically made your own grave! And this is a grave that even I can’t dig you out of!” Jasmine yelled in fury.
“Heh heh.” At this moment, Yun Che suddenly let out a small laugh.
“…To think that you are actually able to laugh right now.” Jasmine said in an exasperated voice.
Yun Che faintly smiled as he said, “I just suddenly thought of the many times you’ve scolded me because I always risked my life for women. Every single time, I gave you the same reply. If it was for you, I would also be willing to throw my life away. But you’ve never once believed me. However, now that we’ve reached this point, are you starting to believe those words?”
“You…” Jasmine’s voice ground to a halt immediately.
“Jasmine, you’ve given far too much already. On the other hand, I have never really been able to do anything for you. Even cleansing that devilish poison from your body was only possible due to the existence of the Sky Poison Pearl. I have never ever needed to give up anything or pay any price. Right now, this Netherworld Udumbara Flower may be the only hope of you getting a new body. So even if the risk was ten times greater and the chance of success was ten times lower, I would still choose to stay behind.”
Jasmine, “…”
“Moreover, I was not being completely reckless when I chose to stay behind. I had already carefully weighed the pros and cons in my mind. Our situation is far less dire than you made it out to be. Even though the Dragon God Soul in my body has already become a part of my own soul, because my spirit power is too weak, even I am not able to tell just how strong it actually is. Therefore, it is impossible for you to know either, Jasmine. If my will is resolute enough and I am able to draw out even more of the Dragon God Soul’s soul power, approaching the Netherworld Udumbara Flower is not an impossibility!”
“And even if that living creature that is hidden in the darkness is an evil beast, if it is at the sixth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, it isn’t impossible for me to beat it either. Two months ago, Fen Juechen had around the same level of strength. In the end, not only did I manage to beat him, it was a complete victory!” Yun Che said in a voice that was brimming with confidence as his eyes widened in the darkness.
“…” Jasmine remained silent for a while before viciously spitting out a response, “IDIOT! The reason why you were able to beat Fen Juechen was entirely because of Hong’er! You really thought that the present you could be a sixth stage Monarch!?”
“Because of… Hong’er?” Yun Che asked in a stunned voice.
“Forget it.” Jasmine said as she gave a faint sigh, “Now that things have reached this point, it would be useless even if I scolded you another ten thousand times. If that foul beast can survive in such an environment, then it means that it must be a creature of the darkness element, so it should also be vulnerable to Hong’er just like Fen Juechen was. If that is the case, then you might have the ability to face it in open combat… but it isn’t a sure thing! Right now, the first thing you need to do is to get accustomed to this environment so you can remain in your peak state indefinitely!”
Jasmine’s tone remained stern but she had subconsciously softened it already. Though she still felt that Yun Che choosing to remain in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest to wait for the Netherworld Udumbara Flower to bloom fully was the stupidest and most reckless thing he could do, that it was akin to digging his own grave, it had all been because of her this time around… completely because of her.
Moreover, this was a man that she had spent the most time with in her life, the man whom she understood the most. From start to finish, he had always been this kind of person…
“When you’re in this place, do you feel a weight on your chest, do you start feeling dizzy and does it get harder for you to breathe?” Jasmine asked with surety in her voice.
Yun Che nodded his head, “Yes. Furthermore, these sensations are far more intense now than when I had first entered this place. Darkness energy is able to devour one’s life force and soul, so the sensations that I am feeling right now should be considered quite normal.”
“Hmph! The only reason why you are able to maintain your present state is because your life force far exceeds that of a normal person. If it was a normal Emperor Profound Realm practitioner, he would have lost all the strength in his body and he would be teetering on the state of unconsciousness after one hundred breaths. But even with your life force, you still won’t be able to hold out in this place for too long. In two hours, you will…” Jasmine’s voice suddenly stopped and when she spoke again, her voice had become neutral and emotionless, “It looks like I don’t need to remind you about this after all. If you dared to stay behind, then you’ve definitely thought of this as well.”
“That’s only natural.” Yun Che said as he stuck out his chest, “The origin of energy in this world is the energy of heaven and earth and darkness energy is naturally also no exception. The Great Way of the Buddha could even absorb and transform the energy from the spatial storm within the Primordial Profound Ark into vitality for my body, much less the fire element found in the Sea of Death. So it stands to reason that the darkness energy in this place can be absorbed as well! The richer and denser an element is in one place, the stronger the ability of the Great Way of the Buddha to absorb and transform said element into vitality for my body. So it can definitely cancel out or maybe even exceed the rate at which my life force is being eroded by the darkness energy in this place.”
Yun Che’s brows twitched as he suddenly asked a question, “The level of the darkness energy in this place truly surpasses your level as well? You said that you would not be able to stop it from devouring your spirit body but why do I not find it quite so terrible? In fact, I think that it is far weaker than the spatial storm I had to face in the Primordial Profound Ark! When I had to endure the spatial storms within the Primordial Profound Ark, if I just relaxed for a few breaths, I would be deader than dead. But in this place, even if I do not activate the Great Way of the Buddha, I can still hold out for a long period of time.”
“Hmph, didn’t I say this just now. The level of the darkness energy is extremely high but its intensity is extremely weak. The darkness energy here is akin to the profound energy being released by a Sovereign whose profound strength is exhausted, whose life has withered away and who is on the brink of death. So even though the profound energy being released is still at the level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, it is so weak that it would not even be able to kill a True Profound Realm practitioner.” Jasmine said as her voice grew serious once more, “But what worries me the most is that this darkness energy is still clearly in an active state, it has not lain dormant.”
“…What is that supposed to mean?” Yun Che asked.
“It means that this darkness energy is clearly being constantly released from some place. Furthermore, despite the fact that it has been unable to spread due to being completely sealed in this place, it still remains so thin even after ten thousand years have passed… It is highly likely that some dreadful thing that is hidden in this place has been releasing this high level of darkness energy while some other thing has been steadily absorbing this darkness energy! If not, why would the darkness energy in this place still be so thin despite this place being sealed away for ten thousand years and why is the darkness energy still in an active state!?”
“Otherwise, given the level of the darkness energy here, if it were to get dense enough, it is not something that Supreme Ocean Palace’s barrier could seal away!”
Jasmine’s words sent a fierce jolt through Yun Che’s body. After that, he asked in a low voice, “Could it be… that it is the darkness-element Profound beast that has been hiding in here along?”
“Compared to a mere Monarch level darkness profound beast, I am much more curious about what exactly could be releasing this level of darkness energy!” Jasmine said in a somber tone, “Since we are already sealed in this place, we might as well find out what kind of mysteries are hiding in this place!”
“Just based on this bizarrely high level of darkness energy, the thing that is hidden in this place is far more dreadful and complex than what Supreme Ocean Palace thinks it is!”
Jasmine’s words caused the whole atmosphere of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest to abruptly change for Yun Che.
Something whose level surpasses Jasmine and something that Jasmine called “dreadful”… just what could it be!?
But all of these things were secondary to him right now. What he needed to do first was to get accustomed to this environment. After that… he would use all of his strength to obtain that Netherworld Udumbara Flower that was almost within reach, no matter what the cost.
Within the darkness, Yun Che sat down, calmed his mind and focused his heart. The Great Way of the Buddha circulated slowly at first, but after that, it began to circulate faster. All fifty four of his profound entrances began to gradually open up along with the pores on his body. A thread of extremely refined and pure energy of heaven and earth began to flow into his body like a cool stream, becoming part of his strength and his life force.
A faint gold pagoda hazily appeared over Yun Che’s head as it began to slowly revolve in place.
In this world that was filled with darkness energy, his life force and profound energy was being swiftly chipped away and even his soul was under assault. At the same time, the Great Way of the Buddha drew out the energy of heaven and earth that was far purer than normal from this darkness energy and it swiftly recovered both his vitality and his profound energy… Gradually, as the golden colored pagoda soundlessly spun, the rate of erosion and recovery easily balanced each other out.
Yun Che opened his eyes… All of this was proceeding far more smoothly than he had expected.
As such, he could now survive in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, a place that would cause all who knew of it to blanche just at the sound of its name, for a sufficiently long period of time.
After Yun Che stood up, he raised an arm. With an explosive pop, violent Golden Crow flames sprang to life on his palm. The Golden Crow flames fought desperately to pierce the incomparably dense darkness and they managed to illuminate an area that was roughly ten paces around Yun Che.
Yun Che began to move slowly towards the deepest parts of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest once more. Given what Jasmine had just said, if the darkness energy in this place was not being absorbed by something and was allowed to build up over time, then it could completely… and easily destroy the sealing barrier that Supreme Ocean Palace boasted was the strongest in the entire continent. But the barrier had lasted for a whole ten millennia, and nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened either…
Could it be because the thing that was hiding in this place… was deliberately maintaining its sealed state!?
As that thought flashed through his mind, Yun Che immediately trembled in fear.
Within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, even Jasmine’s spirit perception was greatly restricted, much less Yun Che’s own spirit perception. As he walked towards the deepest parts of the nest, he could not sense anything else besides the boundless darkness. If not for Jasmine’s warning, he would not even have known about that “living creature” that was hiding within the darkness.
The entrance of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was rather narrow and cramped but the further one went in, the more spacious it got. In the middle segment, the path had already broadened out to an unknown height and width. As Yun Che neared the deepest part of the devil nest, the area the Golden Crow flames could illuminate shrank drastically. And at this time, an extremely bewitching purple light once more appeared before Yun Che’s eyes.
It was the otherworldly purple light of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower!
Chapter 777 - Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign (3)
Yun Che raised the Golden Crow flames a little higher as he averted his gaze from where the Netherworld Udumbara Flower laid. He spoke in a low voice, “Jasmine, where is that monster currently located?”
It was a while before Jasmine finally responded, “It is still right above the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, roughly one hundred meters above it. It hasn’t moved from its previous spot. If my spirit perception isn’t wrong, its gaze is currently locked right onto you!”
“What about its profound strength? Can you confirm that it’s at the sixth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm?” Yun Che asked again.
“…I don’t dare to use too much soul power right now, and my spirit perception is heavily restricted in this place, so I am unable to confirm anything. But at this distance, even if there is a difference between its real and currently measured strength, it shouldn’t be too big of a difference.”
“Good…” Yun Che murmured quietly before sucking in a quick breath. His face grew cold as he raised his head and looked at the spot that was roughly one hundred meters above the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. After that, he spoke in an immeasurably calm voice, “I apologize for disturbing your peace and quiet, Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign!”
“Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign?” Jasmine said in a voice filled with suspicion, “Are you trying to test it?”
“Not completely.” Yun Che replied seriously, “I just have this feeling that it… should be the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign that Zi Ji was talking about! Zi Ji said that it had died more than six thousand years ago. For the last six thousand odd years, the disciples of Supreme Ocean Palace who entered the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest have not found any traces of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. However, when the four of us first entered this place, it was clearly alive but it did not make a move from beginning to end… So it is extremely likely that its death was always an facade!
“Because it did not need die in the first place! As long as it remained hidden here, even if the Four Sacred Masters themselves entered this place, they would still not be able to detect its existence!”
Two pinpricks of deep gray light suddenly sprang to life in the boundless darkness that was hanging over Yun Che’s head.
Those were a pair of immeasurably dreadful eyes! Yun Che felt his body and soul fiercely tremble the instant those eyes opened.
“Foolish human! Was the reason you disregarded your own life to remain in this place to beg this king to personally send you on your way!?”
It was not the least bit bewildered that Yun Che had discovered its existence and its hoarse and raspy voice was filled with a violence and arrogance that caused one’s heart to palpitate.
“…So that is to say that you are indeed the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign that lived here ten thousand years ago?” Yun Che asked as his heart leaped in his chest.
Even though Jasmine had already told him that there was a dreadful monster hiding in this place, upon seeing it himself, his heart was seized by shock and horror. Because its existence was something that even Supreme Ocean Palace, who had been guarding the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, was not aware of!
“Hahahaha!” That dreadful voice erupted in laughter, “This king has only stated his name once to you humans but who would have thought that you would still remember this king’s name after ten thousand years have passed. Even though this king has not seen the light of day for ten thousand years, making a single appearance was enough to plunge you pitiful creatures into an eternal abyss of terror, hahahahaha…”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s voice was extremely unpleasant and Yun Che could barely make out what it was saying. Furthermore, every single word that was uttered from its mouth caused his body to cramp up and its laugh was extremely hard to bear. But the words it uttered had completely admitted to the fact that… it was truly the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign that Supreme Ocean Palace thought was long dead!
That also meant that… it had survived for the past ten thousand years till now!
The strongest Monarchs would have died several times over in the space of ten thousand years, yet it still remained despite a whole ten thousand years having passed!
This lifespan was completely inconsistent with logic and common sense!
And it was far stronger than the Tyrant Profound beast that it was rumored to be!
“To think that it really was this guy!” Yun Che said to Jasmine in a low voice, “It has not passed away despite ten thousand years having gone by, it is definitely some kind of abnormal monster!”
Jasmine, “…”
Yun Che sucked in a quick breath as he regained his composure. He raised his head once more and spoke in a calm voice, “Even though you have never shown yourself in the Profound Sky Continent, the name of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign has never once been forgotten. As for me, I am merely what you termed a pitiful human being. I have no grudge or vendetta against you, so I definitely do not want to become your enemy. I am here only for the sake of one thing, once I obtain it, I will leave this place immediately. I will definitely not speak a single word regarding your presence… I just spoke out because I wanted to apologize for disturbing your peace and quiet.”
It was very clear that Yun Che had no desire to enter into a deadly struggle with a horrifying creature that could survive in this environment of darkness for at least the past ten thousand years. If it did not obstruct his attempt to obtain the Netherworld Udumbara Flower and they both remained amicable to each other… That would naturally be the best result that could be reached.
However, Yun Che’s hopes were dashed just as those words left his mouth.
“You foolish, pathetic and insignificant lower lifeform!!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign thundered, that ear-piercing and soul-scalding voice filled with fury, contempt and disdain. That pair of eyes which seemed like two dark grey abysses suddenly dropped down from the air, “Not only do you have designs on this king’s Netherworld Udumbara Flower, you’re actually still dreaming that this king will let you live!”
Bang!!
With a huge explosion, an enormous gray figure landed heavily in front of Yun Che.
A baleful aura that seemed to come from hell itself assaulted Yun Che, forcing him to stumble back five steps as he reflexively clenched his fists. From its voice, Yun Che could tell that it was no more than thirty meters away from him but the only thing he could see in the darkness were those grayish-white eyes. Other than that, he was not even able to make out a hazy silhouette.
It knew that Yun Che wanted the Netherworld Udumbara Flower… Oh yeah! It had already heard the conversation that he had with Zi Ji earlier!!
Even though the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was close by, he still could not see it. However, Yun Che did feel a dreadful pressure envelop him as it sought to crush both his body and soul. This pressure was entirely different from any other kind of pressure that Yun Che had endured in his life. Icy, violent rancor, arrogance and unreal bloodlust… Yun Che felt a thick wave of negative emotions envelop every corner of this dark world. All of a sudden, he was struck by the dreadful feeling that he was sealed in some kind of hellish volcano and that he was about to face the cruelest punishments imaginable.
“The root of this king’s very life and soul had been left in tatters so I had no choice but to seal myself in this place, not daring to see the light of day for ten thousand years! The darkness energy in this place has helped this king slowly recover my vitality and strength and this Netherworld Udumbara Flower will be able to restore this king’s soul origin! This is something the heavens have blessed this king with. It is the most precious thing to this king in my life! In this disgraceful place, the day on which this flower blooms every twenty four years is the day this king looks forward to the most! To think that a foolish and insignificant inferior lifeform such as yourself would dare to have designs on the object that this king treasures the most!”
When an immeasurably strong existence faced a “pitiful creature,” it normally would not even be moved to anything resembling anger. But it was very clear that Yun Che had touched this creature’s reverse scale, something that he definitely should not have done!
The baleful aura which it had suddenly released caused Yun Che’s heart to race but after that, he quickly regained his composure. His eyes turned exceptionally cold as he said, “It looks like… there isn’t much room for discussion after all.”
Not only was he unable to attain his desired outcome but the situation had deteriorated in the worst possible manner… To think that this Netherworld Udumbara Flower was actually the “reverse scale” of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign!
This also meant that if he wanted to obtain the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, he would have to kill the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign first!
He had to kill a monster that had lived for more than ten thousand years! A monster that was surrounded by boundless mysteries!
“It was rumored that your strength was around the initial stages of the Tyrant Profound Realm ten thousand years ago. Now a whole ten thousand years have passed, yet you are only at the middle stages of the Sovereign Profound Realm…” Since it had devolved into a life-or-death struggle between them, Yun Che naturally dispensed with all formalities and courtesies. Instead he gave it a cold smile as he continued, “Even the most ordinary human being could outstrip this pitiful rate of growth! It looks the monster who keeps calling us inferior lifeforms… is nothing much after all!”
“Hahahahaha!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was not provoked by Yun Che’s words. Instead, a wild laugh erupted from his throat, “Foolish and pathetic creature, how could you even deign to understand the true might of this king! This king’s current isolation is only because the very roots of my life and soul have been wounded! As long as this Netherworld Udumbara Flower is not destroyed, this king’s vitality and his soul origin will have completely recovered after three thousand more years! When that time comes, this king’s body and soul will swiftly recover and this king’s strength will grow by leaps and bounds! And at that time, everything in this world will have to bow at this king’s feet!”
Jasmine, “…”
“Tch.” Yun Che snorted disdainfully, his expression filled with contempt, “I have met quite a few strong people in my life and there’s a whole bunch of people who are stronger than you. But when it comes to being boastful and arrogant, I don’t think I’ve met a single person who has beaten you yet. Oh… could it be that you’ve been crazy from the start? That sounds about right, in this environment of absolute darkness, it wouldn’t be surprising for someone to be driven to suicide within a month or two, much less lose their minds. Speaking of that, I have to say that I am suddenly filled with admiration for you. Not only did you not commit suicide despite being holed up in this place for ten thousand years, you’re actually doing just fine.”
“Heh…” A dangerous chuckle coldly rang out in the darkness as the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign snickered, “This king has been able to endure for the past one million years, so what is a mere ten thousand years to me!”
Yun Che’s brows fiercely jumped…
One million years!?
“How ridiculous! To think that this king would deign to waste his breath on a foolish and pathetic lower life form such as yourself!”
Boom!!
An icy-cold energy wave exploded outwards as the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s eyes turned from grayish-white to jet black. Around its body, dense black-colored mist gathered. In an instant, all of the darkness energy within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest began to stir violently as an evil wind that seemed to come from hell itself mercilessly swept through and began to erode every part of the place.
Yun Che felt a pressure on his chest but after that he leaped backwards with all his strength, instantly retreating three hundred meters away. The darkness energy that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had explosively released made him feel as if he had instantly dropped into the pits of hell.
Wooosh!!
Yun Che’s left hand blazed with Phoenix flames while his right hand was engulfed by the Golden Crow flames. His entire body was being baptized by fire and his brows were fiercely knitted together. While he had been alarmed and shocked by the darkness energy radiating from the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, for some odd reason, he could not help but feel a familiarity from it that should not have existed…
Familiarity?
“Ignorant lower life form, given your pitiful strength, approaching the Netherworld Udumbara Flower would only end in your death. This king does not even need to personally execute you. But at the same time, it would also stain this king’s Netherworld Udumbara Flower with the dirty and inferior soul lower given off by you humans! So this king has no choice but to personally consign you to the dust within this darkness!”
The boundless darkness had completely camouflaged the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. Yun Che could not see where it was and could only rely on his restricted spirit perception to sense it. So in this current situation, Yun Che had already been forced to assume an absolute defensive posture before they had even come to blows.
At this moment, an extremely low voice icily rang out:
“Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night!!”
This voice had not come from Yun Che… instead it was Jasmine who had said those words!
These six words caused Yun Che to be rooted in place while also causing the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign to abruptly to freeze in place just as he was about to make an attack.
“Who is it!?” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign roared as its pupils suddenly radiated a hellish, ebon light. This hellish light fell onto Yun Che’s body as it roared once more, “Oh, so that’s how it is! Your body houses another soul… and this soul is actually able to recognize this king’s devil art!”
“Jasmine, what is going on?” Yun Che asked apprehensively. He finally knew where that odd sense of familiarity originated from… The darkness energy that was radiating from this Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was astonishingly similar to the energy aura that Fen Juechen had released the other day. It was only that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s aura was many times denser and purer than Fen Juechen’s aura had been.
“This monster is neither a beast nor a man!” Jasmine’s voice was frighteningly low, because the shock and terror in her heart was many times that of Yun Che’s own, “It is extremely likely that this monster is… from one million years ago… during the Primordial Era… it is from the Eternal Night Devil Clan…”
“A devil!!”
The appearance of the “Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night” in the Profound Sky Continent had caused Jasmine to sense that something was amiss. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign standing in front of them was extremely likely to be the dreadful truth behind… the “Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night”!
Chapter 778 - Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign (4)
“…!!” Even though he had similar suspicions, hearing Jasmine utter the word “devil” in an immeasurably somber tone caused Yun Che’s heart and soul to fiercely quiver.
Devils! They lived during the Primordial Era and had dominated the Primal Chaos Realm together with the ancient gods. Their strength, vitality and spirit… were at a level that was far above humanity… and they were an existence that was greater than all other living creatures as well!
But the gods and devils had clearly gone extinct a million years ago!
The dead gods had at the very least left behind their scattered legacies but according to what Jasmine had told him, the devils had long ago faded away completely, not leaving a single thing behind.
“Jasmine… are you sure?” Yun Che asked as his heart remained stuck in his throat. If what Jasmine had said was correct, then the monster standing in front of him was a terrifying creature of ancient legend that should have been wiped out one million years ago!!
“It is extremely likely… The Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night that he had displayed may not have been too powerful, but it was incredibly pure! There is an entire world of difference between the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night it just displayed and the one that Fen Juechen used! If one’s devil body and devil soul was not pure enough, it was impossible to use such a pure devil art… Furthermore the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night was a devil art that was supposed to have died out along with the ancient devil clan!”
Every single word that Jasmine said weighed down on Yun Che like an enormous and heavy boulder, “The Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night that was used by Fen Juechen and the Eternal Night Royal Family had very likely come from it!”
Yun Che, “…”
“Who are you! How could you recognise this king’s devil art!?” Jasmine’s words had not only stunned Yun Che, they had also stunned the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, causing the darkness energy that was swirling around it to sink slightly. But the black light that was shining in its eyes grew even brighter.
“Hmph, what a joke.” Jasmine said icily, “Do you think the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night is very rare? Within the Profound Sky Continent, there are tens of thousands of people who can use the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night!”
Jasmine’s words were clearly meant to sound things out.
“What a load of bullshit!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign roared as fury filled his voice, “The Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night is the devil art unique to my Eternal Night Devil Clan, and it is also the only devil art that still exists in this world! Under this sky, other than this king himself, it will definitely not be used by another!”
“Oh really? Since this devil art should solely belong to you, then can you explain how this princess could recognize it at first glance and how I was even able to correctly identify its name!?” Jasmine replied icily.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was dumbstruck for a short while. But after that, the dark mist around its body began to swirl violently as it become a violent tsunami of darkness, pushing Yun Che backwards by tens of steps once more. At the same time, Yun Che could clearly tell that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s fury was not directed at him.
“Oh so that is how it is… That’s how it is!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign roared in fury, “It was that unfilial son of mine… that unfilial wretch!! Not only did he betray this king, he even handed down our clan’s supreme and unsurpassed devil art to humans… AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! This king… should have torn you to shred all those years ago… TORN YOU TO SHREDS!!!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had completely lost control of its emotions and its power had gone berserk as well. The darkness profound energy spread all over the place as it lashed out crazily at its surroundings and deafening explosions blanketed the area.
“What did he say? His son?” Yun Che asked with bleak eyes as he remained on his guard. But he was completely unable to understand what the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was roaring.
Jasmine explained in a slow but low voice, “We definitely need to think of a way to get it to divulge all of its secrets! To think that there was actually another devil hiding in this world! This definitely can’t just be categorized as simply an odd occurrence! This is a huge matter that is big enough to shock the entire Primal Chaos Realm!”
“If he is really a devil from the ancient devil race and he is really able to recover his strength one day, then… he will bring about a horrifying calamity to the entire Primal Chaos Realm!”
Yun Che’s mind whirled before he shouted out in a stern voice, “Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign! I can tell you one thing, the ‘Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night’ that we know of comes from a sword that is known as the ‘Heavenly Sin Divine Sword’! Does that Heavenly Sin Divine Sword have any relation to you whatsoever?”
“Heavenly Sin Divine Sword?” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign said as he gave a furious laugh, “That is this king’s Eternal Night Devil Sword!!”
Eternal Night… Devil Sword?
The Heavenly Sin Divine Sword was the name given to the sword by the Eternal Night Royal Family, and it was a warning to its descendants that whoever used this sword was committing a crime against heaven! The Eternal Night Devil Sword… so that was its true name!?
“Why is it in the Profound Sky Continent? Did you leave it behind on purpose?” Yun Che asked as his brows knit together. As he was speaking, he also began to quietly withdraw all of his concentrated profound energy. Yun Che did this because he knew that if he made himself seem weak enough, weak to the point where it looked like he did not have the strength to resist and was a dead man walking, it would be much easier to get the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign to divulge all of his secrets.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s rage had still not dissipated and it seemed like the “unfilial son” he had mentioned was the greatest regret of his life. He roared in nearly uncontrollable rage, “Ten thousand years ago, this king had finally managed to escape the seal, and even though I did not die, the roots of my life and soul were completely destroyed. Anytime my body came into contact with the light of the sun and the moon, I was wracked with unbearable agony. Furthermore, it was highly likely that I would die in that condition so I had no choice but to cower in this dark abyss! In order for this king to find out what was going on in the outside world, I threw the Eternal Night Devil Sword into the outside world! And sealed inside the Eternal Night Devil Sword was this king’s unfilial wretch of a son!”
“This king had thought that he would do this king’s bidding and be this king’s eyes and ears in the world. But this unfilial wretch actually cut off the soul link that he had with this king! He actually betrayed this king! And he even passed down the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night to you lowly human beings… AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”
“To think that this king actually personally destroyed his devil body all those years ago in order to seal his devil soul into the Eternal Night Devil Sword, all so he could escape death together with this king! But in the end, he wound up betraying this king… That unfilial wretch! THAT UNFILIAL WRETCHED SON!!!”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s emotions were going berserk, and his deafening roars of fury threatened to rupture Yun Che’s eardrums.
“…Jasmine, do you understand what he is saying?” Yun Che whispered as he leaned against one of the walls towards the back.
“The Heavenly Sin Divine Sword is the Eternal Night Devil Sword that he is talking about, and there is the soul of another devil hiding in that sword!” Jasmine said in a somber voice, “However that sword is no cause for concern because if even the Eternal Night Royal Family could easily seal it away, it means that its strength is already too weak to even be worth mentioning. Right now, even if the devil soul in that sword hasn’t been completely extinguished, it is already teetering on the verge of oblivion. But this Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign… why is he still alive!? And he was even able to survive to this very day!”
“This planet was created by the Evil God! Since he said that he was sealed away for one million years, it is extremely likely that the Evil God was the one who sealed him away! Since the Evil God had the power to seal him away for so long, then why didn’t he just kill this Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign in the first place? He also just talked about how he sealed the devil soul of his own son into his sword, so that his son could escape death together with him… What exactly is going on here!?”
A living devil, this matter was far more terrifying and serious than a normal person could imagine.
Jasmine’s voice once again rang out within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, “Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign! You keep claiming that you are from the Eternal Night Devil Clan and you also keep saying that you’ve been sealed for a million years. Are you actually trying to tell us that you’re a devil god from the Ancient Era? Hah, how ridiculous! The god race and devil race died out one million years ago, this is a fact that any three year old child within the Primal Chaos Dimension can tell you. So every single word that you’ve uttered is foolish beyond belief!”
“This king’s devil body is not something you lowly humans have the right to call into question!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign furiously roared back at her, “Yes, the gods fell and the devils died. Half of my Eternal Night Devil Clan died at the hands of the god race, the other half were destroyed by the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations! Only this king survived! That damned Evil God, he was clearly struck by the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations’ ‘Myriad Tribulations’, yet he was still able to survive for so long after that. He was even able to use the remainder of his strength to seal this king into this lowly place!!”
“…It was just as you had guessed! He was sealed by the Evil God!” Yun Che whispered to Jasmine.
Jasmine, “…”
“This king was sealed away for one million years… A whole million years!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign continued to howl in fury, as if he was giving vent to the berserk rage that was caused by his “unfilial son”, “That damnable seal is eating away at this king’s devil body and devil soul every second! This king originally believed that he would die due to the Evil God’s seal but who would have thought that the seal’s power would suddenly run out ten thousand years ago. That not only left this king with a sliver of my life origin and soul origin, it also gave me back my freedom!”
“…” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s words caused a flash of doubt to cross Yun Che’s mind… Normally speaking, after being released from a seal, a person would say that “I had regained my freedom, but was left with a sliver of my life origin and soul origin after that”, but what the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign said was, “This not only left this king with a sliver of my life origin and soul origin, it also gave me back my freedom.”
So his words seemed to express that he did not have any freedom before he was sealed by the Evil God.
However, this doubt did not linger in his mind, because he knew that it was very likely only a difference in the way the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign expressed himself.
“That Evil God would never believe that the seal that he exhausted all his strength to set was not able to kill this king… What’s more, he himself lies dead one million years in the past, hahahahaha!!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s rage turned into wild laughter, “It is truly heaven itself which has protected this king. Heaven itself which has protected my Eternal Night Devil Clan!”
“The Evil God sealed this king in this incomparably inferior world for one reason. It must have been to ensure that if the day came where this king managed to escape his seal, I would be unable to regenerate my broken devil body and devil soul and the only thing I would be able to do was wait for death to claim me! He definitely would never have dreamed that a group of foolish, lowly humans would actually create a perfect barrier for this king. Not only did it completely obstruct the light of the sun and the moon, it also prevented this precious devil energy from dissipating, leaving it completely for this king’s use! And what was even more marvelous was that a Netherworld Udumbara Flower was actually birthed in this place… So I could absorb this devil energy to recover my life force and I could consume this Netherworld Udumbara Flower to recover my soul origin. All of these things fell into place perfectly. It is clear that the heavens themselves are helping my Eternal Night Devil Clan to once again establish the reign of the devils!”
“!!!!” At this point, Yun Che fully understood what the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was saying.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign… A devil that the Evil God had used the last bit of his strength to seal away before he himself had fallen! The seal lost its power ten thousand years ago, allowing the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign to regain his freedom. But at the same time, the seal had been eating away at him constantly for one million years. So even if he managed to escape the seal, it was just a matter of time before he met his own end.
But as it happened, he was discovered by the founders of Supreme Ocean Palace not long after he had escaped his seal and so a barrier was erected around him… which simultaneously created the most optimal place for him to recover!
Furthermore, due to the accumulation of darkness energy, a Netherworld Udumbara Flower had been birthed in this place!
The Supreme Ocean Palace had wanted to seal away this dreadful devil energy and the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign along with it… But it had unwittingly saved him!
On the other hand, if not for this barrier, that terrifying devil energy that seemed to come out of nowhere would spread towards the Profound Sky Continent and the consequences of that were unthinkable.
Just as Jasmine had said, compared to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, the object that continuously released this devil energy was far more terrifying!
Jasmine replied in a cold voice, “All those years ago, even the Evil God died due to the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations, why is it that you were the sole survivor!? Moreover, sealing you for a million years would be far more difficult than killing you. So why did the Evil God choose to exhaust all his remaining strength to seal you away rather than simply killing you?”
“Heh.” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign gave a sinister chuckle and at this moment, his fury had begun to abate as well, “Because the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations is not able to kill this king! And the Evil God is even less capable of killing this king!!”
“Why couldn’t they kill you!?” Jasmine pressed on, “The Eternal Night Devil Clan was not the most powerful clan amongst the ancient devil race! Even if you are the king of the Eternal Night Devil Clan, you are still definitely not counted amongst the strongest devils either! Even the devil god of the highest order, the Creation God known as the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor had fallen… so why are you the only one that is still alive!?”
Boom!
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign did not reply. As he regained his composure and his rage died down, the darkness energy around his body flared to life once more as a bone-cutting, icy aura heavily locked onto Yun Che. As he advanced, the entire Moon Slaughter Devil Nest began to fiercely tremble, “Since you are so eager to know the truth, then you can ask that damnable Evil God after I’ve sent you to hell! Lowly and pathetic humans, if you had been trapped in here by accident, this king wouldn’t even bother lifting a finger. Instead, I would let the devil energy in this place consume you. But you dared to lust after this king’s Netherworld Udumbara Flower… So prepare yourselves, as this king will grant you the cruelest of deaths!!”
Chapter 779 - Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign (5)
“Be forever consigned to dust in the darkness!!”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign took a step forward. Immediately, the entire Moon Slaughter Devil Nest began to quake. The dark mist around his body billowed crazily as it transformed into a giant wave of darkness energy and surged toward him.
Absolute darkness and extreme cold engulfed Yun Che like a boundless, inescapable, abyss. In front of this wave of darkness energy, Yun Che felt his body becoming rigid and he felt like dust in front of a tidal wave that reached the heavens. He was not able to attack with the Golden Crow flames he had gathered up as every cell in his body screamed for him to “escape”! If he dared to face it head on, it would only end in his complete and total destruction.
This was the first time that an attack caused his very soul to tremble in fear before it even neared his body.
Yun Che abruptly bit the tip of his tongue as he activated both Star God’s Broken Shadow and Extreme Mirage Lightning at the same time as he darted backwards, quick as lightning. As he was making his swift escape, he felt his back smash heavily against a wall that he had no way of seeing.
Boom!!
The Moon Slaughter Devil Nest shook again as the wave of darkness exploded at the place where Yun Che had been stonewalled. The exploding darkness energy seemed to spread out like a horde of evil spirits.
The interior of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest had been saturated by darkness energy of an extremely high level for an entire ten thousand years. Every inch of its walls and every grain of sand within had become incomparably durable and it also had an immeasurably strong resistance against darkness energy itself. Even though it was being impacted by this peerlessly terrifying darkness, no dust flew in the wake of the attack and the wall itself merely shook but did not collapse.
Even though Yun Che had not been caught by the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s exploding darkness profound energy, the icy cold aftershocks caused his whole body to be wracked by unbearable pain. His brows knitted together tightly as he took big gasps of breath. After facing the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s first attack, his heart instantly sank to the bottom of his stomach… Both individuals were at the sixth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm and both of them also wielded the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night but just based on the darkness profound energy that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had used in his attack, he was at least several times stronger than Fen Juechen!
Furthermore the icy cold might and pressure that were emanating from his body were at least one hundred times more stronger than Fen Juechen’s!!
Even when he faced the Sovereign of the Seas, Qu Fengyi, the might and pressure that he had felt was vastly inferior to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s.
Because, it… was a devil from ancient times after all!!
“Yun Che, you better listen up and listen good!” Jasmine yelled in an extremely serious tone, “This Moon Devil Sovereign! No matter what tactics or trump cards you have to use, you must use all your strength to kill him, even if you have to put your life on the line! Only your strength is not restricted by the dark devil energy in this place! So you are the only person who can kill him on this Blue Pole Star! Otherwise, the day he fully revives is the day the entire Profound Sky Continent and all the living creatures on this world experience a catastrophe beyond imagination!”
“Heh, right now, I have no time to care about a catastrophe.” Yun Che’s hands tightened into fists as he barked out a miserable laugh filled with self-mockery, “If I’m unable to kill him, then I’m dead meat. So I have no choice but to put everything on the line anyways… It’s only that this time, there really isn’t any chance of victory.”
Because the monster he was facing was a devil from ancient times!
In the million years since the fall of the gods and devils, Yun Che was astonishingly the very first person who had crossed arms with a devil in the entire Primal Chaos Realm!
“If it was just you alone, then you’d indeed be as good as dead, as you wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of beating him.” Jasmine said in a deep voice, “But if we add in Hong’er… then we might just have a chance!”
“Hmph, what a pitiful struggle!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign stretched out a pitch-black arm as a cluster of dark mist coalesced in front of him. After that, it started to pulsate like an enormous living organ. After the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign stretched out his finger, the dark mist fiercely tore itself apart as it shot out a thousand bolts of black lightning that stormed in Yun Che’s location. Every single bolt of dark lightning was as slender as a needle but the might contained within each bolt of lightning caused all the hairs on Yun Che’s body to stand on end as he instantly went pale.
“Don’t even think of trying to break that attack, dodge all of them! If you are hit by any one of them, the darkness energy contained within will directly harm your soul!” Jasmine yelled out an urgent warning.
Yun Che did not even stop to think about it. He clung to the side of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’s walls as he once again activated Star God’s Broken Shadow and Extreme Mirage Lightning to escape from this attack at the fastest speed possible.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang…
The dark lightning tore a thousand holes in the air before it collided against the stone wall with an ear-splitting wail. At the same time, vicious currents of dark energy spilled from the dark lightning uncontrollably. Many stone walls were scattered within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, so as Yun Che fled backwards with all his might, all of the dark lightning was soaked up by the stone walls… Despite the dreadful power that was contained by each bolt of dark lightning, power sufficient to easily pierce through Heavenly Firm Jade, none of these lightning bolts were able to penetrate a single stone wall in this place.
These stone walls that had been saturated by darkness energy for ten thousand years had clearly become a protective umbrella for Yun Che as he fled pathetically.
“Hah… hah…” Yun Che gasped violently as he leaned heavily against a stone wall, his forehead covered in cold sweat. Once he had managed to compose himself, he realized that the two attacks made by the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had pushed him from the depths of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest to its middle.
If this continued, he would simply flee until he was rendered unable to flee.
“This can’t continue…” Yun Che mumbled through gritted teeth as he stared in the direction of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, “Merely escaping is completely meaningless in this place… I’ll just have to put it all on the line, no matter what!”
“Ah, this has truly shocked this king! To think that a pathetically weak and inferior lifeform such as yourself could escape this king’s punishment twice in a row. But it is such a pity, because you are not qualified to become a plaything for this king. So this time, even if you have ten more lives, even if you are ten times faster, you will disappear forever! Not even a single bone will be left behind!”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s voice seemed near and far as it rang out from within the boundless darkness, making it hard for Yun Che to get a lock on his position. He gritted his teeth hard as he suppressed the terror that was welling up in his heart…
“Purgatory!!”
With a low roar, all of the profound energy in Yun Che’s body explosively swelled up as the pupils of his eyes and the surrounding profound energy instantly turned a dull red.
“Burning Sun Rupture!!”
Yun Che darted out from behind the stone wall as blazing Golden Crow flames frantically ignited and exploded with full force towards the onrushing Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign.
Boom!!
When the onrushing Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was still sixty meters away, the Golden Crow flames abruptly ruptured, but these rupturing flames of destruction did not release the power of the Golden Crow flames which would reduce everything to nothingness. Instead the flames were quickly extinguished within the darkness as they faded away. Within the short span of a single breath, everything was plunged into pitch-black stillness once again.
“Wh…at!” Yun Che said as he gritted his teeth fiercely.
“This is truly a meaningless struggle.” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign said with icy contempt and mockery, “If it was the flames of the Vermillion Bird, this king may feel the slightest hints of trepidation. But these lowly Golden Crow flames are merely a pitiful joke!”
“…” The fact that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was an ancient devil was confirmed yet again! Not only had he identified the flames as Golden Crow flames with a single glance but he also did not show the slightest bit of amazement at seeing them.
At this moment, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s aura abruptly grew thick and heavy as the expression in his eyes fiercely changed as well… because he had felt the change in Yun Che’s profound energy and he had also noticed the strange profound light which glowed around him.
“Evil God… Arts!!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign said in a voice that trembled suddenly. But after that, it morphed into a roar of pure fury and rage, “You actually inherited the powers of the Evil God… AHHH!!!! THEN YOU DESERVE TO DIE EVEN MORE!! EVEN MORE!!”
“This king has sworn countless of times that the first thing I had to do when I saw the light of day again was to destroy every single trace of the Evil God left in this universe!!”
“So you, the human who who has inherited the power of the Evil God! This king will consign both your body and soul to oblivion forever!!”
The seal had lasted for one million years and what was accumulated had been one million years of resentment and rage against the Evil God!
The moment he had felt the Evil God’s power on Yun Che’s body, all the resentment that festered within the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign erupted like a raging volcano. In a single instant, his fury caused the entire Moon Slaughter Devil Nest to shake and it was a million times more intense than the fury he had previously directed towards his “unfilial son”.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign roared once again as he suddenly took to the air. He shot a claw out towards Yun Che and a thick and dense darkness that seemed to come from a devil god that dwelt in the depths of a deep abyss shot out from his body to engulf Yun Che.
He wanted to use that darkness energy to imprison Yun Che before using his bare hands to personally tear Yun Che into bits and pieces. All so that he could give vent to the million years of anger and resentment he held against the Evil God.
Yun Che steeled himself as he tried to push aside his fear and desire to flee but the dread that welled up in his soul and his body’s instinctual desire to cower in fear was incomparably intense. The pressure from this devil simply wasn’t something a mortal’s body could bear. Yun Che being able to endure up to this point was already difficult beyond belief.
“I have to put it all in the line… The only choice I have is to put it all on the line! If not, the only thing that awaits me is a meaningless death!”
His body was still being wracked by uncontrollable trembling and he gritted his teeth so hard that he had nearly broken a few of them. However, the dread in his heart instantly turned into a violent rage…
“Hong’er!!”
A vermillion light shone as the Heaven Smiting Sword appeared. Yun Che’s body shot into the air at the same time as he braced to meet the darkness energy that he could not possibly resist. While he gave vent to his emotions with a great roar, he poured all of his energy into the Heaven Smiting Sword without reservation as he smashed it towards the boundless darkness before him.
It was also at this exact moment that Yun Che suddenly saw the absolute darkness clearing before his very eyes.
The body of the Heaven Smiting Sword released a vermillion light that Yun Che was quite familiar with. In this world of darkness, that the Golden Crow flames could barely illuminate, the vermillion light that emanated from the Heaven Smiting Sword was actually able to pierce through the darkness around Yun Che… it revealed the approaching whirlpool of darkness… and even managed to light up every corner of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest!!
It even clearly revealed the full appearance of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign to Yun Che as well!
At the same time, he felt the all-encompassing, unconquerable fear that he held towards the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, which had captivated his heart, suddenly disappear. It had disappeared completely, he even felt that the vortex of darkness which sped to engulf him had become far less dreadful. Even the dark might, which radiated from the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, had become less heavy.
What’s… this?
All of these changes had occurred the moment Yun Che had put his life on the line and rushed forth with the Heaven Smiting Sword. It was just that Yun Che did not have the time to be amazed by these changes or even think about them. Because in the very next instant, the Heaven Smiting Sword had heavily collided with the vortex of dark energy that had been conjured by the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign.
The instant the sword blade approached the vortex of darkness, Yun Che clearly saw the originally raging and surging vortex of dark energy become sluggish… or perhaps it would be better to say that it had curled up in fear!
Rippppp!!
The dreadful vortex of dark energy was sliced cleanly in two by the Heaven Smiting Sword, as if it was simply a pitch-black curtain. The dark devil energy that rushed out did not attempt to rush up and devour Yun Che. Instead, it curled back as if in fear before twisting backwards as it fled desperately… as if it had come face to face with the one thing in the world that it feared the most.
The incomparably dreadful vortex of darkness had been dispersed with a single blow. Yun Che stared at the now empty space in front of him with with blank eyes as he could barely believe what he had just witnessed. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was equally stunned. He stopped in place as both of his eyes fell heavily on the sword in Yun Che’s hand. The gray light in his pupils grew incredibly frenzied as he gasped, “That… that is…”
At this time, Yun Che finally came back to his senses. His heart no longer felt any fear or pressure as he used Star God’s Broken Shadow to appear in front of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, smashing the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword down fiercely on the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s chest.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was in shock as he was struck by Yun Che’s attack.
“ARGGHHHHHHH!!”
A hoarse and shrill cry blanketed the entire Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. Even though Yun Che’s blow had been hastily struck, it still carried the force of a tremendous amount of weight and sent the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign flying.
Yun Che did not give chase. He only stood there, rooted in place… All he heard was the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s shrill and miserable wails, which did not die out until a long time later.
An ancient devil who could endure a seal that lasted a million years, who had a mighty devil body had actually let out such a shrill and miserable wail after being struck by Yun Che’s sword… It was as if he had suffered the cruelest punishment in this world.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s pitch-black body heavily smashed against a stone wall that was three hundred meters away before it flopped to the ground. But he did not stand up. Instead, he began to roll on the ground as he let out cries that spoke of incomparable agony… As for the place where the Heaven Smiting Sword had struck his chest, it was astonishingly marked with a vermillion red wound. The vermillion light radiating from the wound was exceptionally glaring and it did not fade for a long time after, as streams of pitch-black blood poured out from within.
“Devil… devil slayer… sword!!”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s voice had been warped by pain but the three words “devil slayer sword” had clearly been uttered with deep dread.
Yun Che stared blankly at the scene in front of him. The Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was no longer a world of absolute darkness. It had now become completely stained in vermillion light. And the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign who was incomparably terrifying was now mewling in pain as he laid curled out up on the ground… Yun Che bent his head to look at the vermillion greatsword which was all too familiar to him with a dazed expression on his face. Yet at this moment, it almost seemed to be a stranger.
“Hahahahaha, that was the case after all!” Jasmine crowed triumphantly, “The moment an ancient devil is wounded by a devil slayer sword, the pain it endures is a thousand times greater and the time the wound takes to recover is also ten times slower than usual! So devils who are more pure than others will fear the devil slayer sword even more!”
“So now, you should know why I said that as long as you have Hong’er around, there is still a chance that you can beat this Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign!”
Chapter 780 - Xiao Yun’s Disappearance
“So you’re saying that the reason why I was able to defeat Fen Juechen so easily was also due to Hong’er?” Yun Che asked in astonishment.
“Hmph, what do you think?”
“…” Yun Che immediately grew depressed. Since he had beaten Fen Juechen, he had always thought that his strength had reached the stage where he could go toe to toe with a practitioner of the sixth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm. But to think that it was actually because of Hong’er!
It was no wonder why the darkness profound energy that Fen Juechen had used during their duel was far weaker than the exceedingly terrifying aura that had radiated from his body… At that time, he had already found it exceedingly strange but he had not thought of Hong’er at all. Instead, he guessed that it was because Feng Juechen was unable to obtain complete mastery over the darkness profound energy which had come from an external source.
Under the vermillion light emanating from the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword, the originally inky dark interior of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest became incredibly clear and Yun Che could even see the small pebbles at the corners of the nest. He naturally could also see the full appearance of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign… He was nearly five meters tall, black light radiating from his body. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s skin was a deep gray color while his hair was bone-white, trailing all the way to his feet.
At first glance, besides the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s enormous build and the dusky hue of his skin, his appearance was basically no different from a human’s. Having been tortured by a seal for a million years and having to hide from the light of day for another ten thousand years, Yun Che had thought that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign would be exceedingly ugly and look as old as a ghost. To his surprise, the Moon Devil Sovereign’s features, while warped in pain, were exceptionally handsome, from a human’s perspective. Furthermore, he did not look much older than a thirty year old man.
“It… it can’t be… it can’t be a devil slayer sword!”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign finally stood up, but he remained in a hunched posture and the gray hand that he held to the wound on his chest continued to tremble. Yun Che could still see that vermillion light leaking out from between the gaps of his fingers and it did not seem to be weakening in the slightest.
“The Sword Spirit God Clan… were the first clan of gods to be wiped out… So it isn’t possible that a devil slayer sword still exists in this world!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign exclaimed in a voice that was still filled with pain. Besides a devil slayer sword, nothing else in this world could inflict a wound that would torment a true devil body for such a long period of time, despite only being only half a foot long.
“The sword light…” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s eyes widened as he let out a sudden howl, “Devil slayer swords emit a white-colored sword light… That isn’t a devil slayer sword!! Just what sword are you holding in your hands!? Where exactly did you get such a sword!?”
Jasmine, “…”
“Hmph, you don’t need to concern yourself with where my sword came from. The only thing you need to know is that you will die at the hands of this sword… and that is enough!” Yun Che hefted the Heaven Smiting Sword, his expression no longer containing the slightest bit of fear or desire to flee. Instead, he looked supremely confident at the moment and his lips curled into a cold smile that spoke of his impending victory.
Jasmine could naturally feel the change in Yun Che’s attitude and she spoke out abruptly, “Aren’t you getting a bit too overconfident right now? The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign only used half his power at most when he launched that attack at you. Furthermore, the only reason you were able to wound him at all was because you caught him off guard. Even though Hong’er’s power is able to heavily restrict his own power, it definitely doesn’t mean that your victory is assured! His powers are far more robust and stronger than your own! And it is absolutely sufficient to overcome the disadvantage that Hong’er has put him at.”
“I know.” Yun Che said as he gripped the Heaven Smiting Sword tightly but his voice still contained more than a hint of excitement, “I can roughly gauge his strength right now. The first thing I felt when I faced him was an overwhelming dread that I wasn’t able to overcome at all. But after I summoned out Hong’er, for some inexplicable reason, that feeling completely disappeared. And right now, I don’t feel the slightest bit of fear. Rather… I feel even more relaxed and excited than when I faced off against Fen Juechen.”
Jasmine, “…?”
This was indeed strange. It was true that holy power and devil power mutually repulsed and restricted each other but Yun Che did not have a holy body and he did not possess any holy powers either. Furthermore, it was Hong’er’s presence alone that was restricting the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s devil body and devil powers.
But that was only his devil body and devil powers! It would not affect his soul!
No matter whether it was strength, spirit or species, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was far above Yun Che. So without even discussing the Yun Che who was currently far inferior to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, even if both of them were equal in terms of power, Yun Che would definitely still be suppressed, especially when it came to the suppression of his soul… The overwhelming terror that Yun Che could not shake was the most ordinary and expected outcome.
So why had Yun Che’s fear completely disappeared and why was he able to radiate such a fierce and aggressive aura? On the other hand, it was the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign who… If it was a god who was on the same level as him holding a devil slayer sword, then perhaps he might feel fear. But right now he was facing a Yun Che whose power was far inferior to his, so why was he feeling such an intense dread?
From all the records of the devil slayer swords and from all his memories of them, it had never once been mentioned that they could also suppress a devil’s soul.
Oh right, Hong’er was not simply a normal devil slayer sword! The light she radiated when she transformed into sword was completely different from the light that the fabled devil slayer swords emitted…
But being able to create such a huge suppressive effect on a devil’s soul that practically transcended levels… Such an item should not even exist in this world! Whether it was the records of the Primordial Era or any inheritance of memories, there was no mention of such an item… given the level that the gods and devils existed on, it was not possible for such a thing to exist.
Unless… it was a higher order devil or god who was facing a lower level devil or god… But that was purely a suppression based on the order of things!
“…” The abnormally fierce and exuberant expression displayed on Yun Che’s face caused Jasmine to go into deep thought.
“Very good!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s face was warped by fury. He slowly straightened up and began striding towards Yun Che, “It is indeed not important for this king to concern myself with that sword! Because the conclusion will be the same regardless! To think that a lowly and inferior creature such as yourself could actually inflict such pain on this king… Unforgivable!!”
“This king will grind all your bones into dust!!”
As his voice fell, all of the dark energy surrounding the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign began to surge and roil. He was only about one hundred steps away from Yun Che as well. He had originally believed that every step he took towards Yun Che would be like the footfalls of death itself as it pressed on in this lowly human, causing his entire body to tremble with fear, his courage to completely melt away and ultimately ending with Yun Che turning tail to flee… But right now, the only thing he saw was the cold smile that played across Yun Che’s face and even as he pressed in, no fear appeared on Yun Che’s face. Instead his gaze grew more fevered and excited and even his profound energy aura grew incredibly frenzied.
On the contrary, it was the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign who felt like his heart was being weighed down by one crushing boulder after another with every step he took. Furthermore, the light radiating from Yun Che’s sword was especially unbearable, it caused him immense discomfort and he did not even dare to look at it directly. This natural repulsion he felt towards the light that he recognized as a great threat to his own life and soul origin continued until he suddenly focused his gaze on the sword. At the same time, the full appearance of that vermillion greatsword and the light that it emitted was completely absorbed into his mind…
At that instant, his feet completely froze and his pupils widened so much that it seemed like they would rupture.
“Heaven… Heaven Smiting Devil God Sword!!”
Jasmine, “…!!!?”
Thump…
The moment the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign started to shiver in fear, it seemed as if all of his strength had slipped away as he sank to his knees, his body trembling violently like a sieve. It was as if he had witnessed the most terrifying and unbelievable scene in this world!
This bizarre behavior and reaction was one hundred times more intense than when he had shouted out the three words “devil slayer sword”!
“What’s going on now?” Yun Che had already been prepared to launch an all-out assault. But he had never expected the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign to suddenly become scared witless. His brows twitched as he stared at the dazed Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign… Could it be that this fellow’s wits had been completely scrambled because he had been alone for too long?
“He just yelled out a name… Heaven Smiting Devil God Sword? Yes?” Yun Che suddenly exclaimed, “Oh right! Besides the two words ‘devil slayer’ that is inscribed on the sword that Hong’er transforms into, there are also two other words, ‘heaven smiting.’ At first, he called it a ‘devil slayer sword,’ then he called it the ‘Heaven Smiting Devil God Sword.’ When you put those two names together, it really fits the sword that Hong’er transforms into. Could it be that he knows about Hong’er’s origins? After all, like Hong’er, he also hails from the Primordial Era!
“…Now is not the time to worry about these things!” Jasmine shouted in a rather strange voice but she did not address Yun Che’s doubts, “Remember what I said just now, do not hold anything back, use all your trump cards and pay whatever price you have to because you definitely need to kill this Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign!” Right now, his devil body and powers are being restricted by Hong’er. Furthermore, he threw his own weapon into the Profound Sky Continent, so when it comes to weaponry, you have the absolute advantage… Put everything you have on the line! It is definitely possible for you to kill him!”
“Alright!” Yun Che swiftly cast all other thoughts aside as his killing intent surged and flames ignited all over his body.
“Im… Impossible! Impossible! Impossible!!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign howled hysterically but it was almost as if he was talking to himself at the same time, “Appearance… exactly the same… and this devilish might… No! It isn’t possible… it definitely isn’t possible! The color isn’t the same… and even if it is… then how come it is also able to exude the aura of a devil slayer sword…”
At this moment, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s head suddenly jerked up as he roared at Yun Che, “That sword… just what kind of sword is it, where did it come from!!?”
He had just yelled that the origins and history of that sword was not important… But at this moment, he repeated the words that he had shouted at Yun Che initially and this time, his voice was even more frenzied.
“You talk way too much!” Yun Che replied coldly. After that, his body blurred as he rushed towards the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, “Why don’t you just ask King Yama when you see him in hell!?”
Yun Che’s words caused the devilish light in the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s eyes to burn brightly. To think that he showed such a pathetic and cowardly face to a human being, just thinking about it caused his temper to boil over. “This king will cripple you first, then search your soul!!”
He had changed his mind and decided not to kill Yun Che… It was clear that he simply had to figure out what was going on with the vermillion greatsword that Yun Che held in his hands!
All of the devil energy in his body swelled up as deep gray devilish markings lit up on his back. In an instant, the roiling dark devil energy formed into a enormous black shadow behind him. This black shadow was tens of meters tall and it had nine sinuous heads which twisted about, as if it was the legendary monster, the Nine-headed Hydra!
A brutal and frenzied aura which promised pain leaked out from that shadow, causing all of the energy in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest to grow frenzied as well. After that, the black shadow dissolved into nine beams of dark energy which sizzled towards Yun Che.
“That is the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night’s Nine Deaths of Eternal Night! It carries nine different kinds of extremely negative concepts and it will destroy your mind before even hurting your body!”
Yun Che remained fearless and resolute, a corner of his mouth hooked into a cold smile. All the joints of his body creaked as he swung the Heaven Smiting Sword which weighed nearly five hundred thousand kilograms. Golden Crow flames ran along the body of the heavy sword as it instantly generated a rampaging, all-consuming firestorm which smashed heavily against the nine beams of dark devil energy.
The beams of dark devil energy were completely swallowed by the onrushing firestorm and in that instant, the space in that area completely shattered. The color of the wind changed as deafening energy explosions and the extremely terrible shrill sound of something being devoured rang in the air for a long time.
For the levels of power being shown by Yun Che and the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, while being immensely sturdy, was far too small a battlefield to contain their fight. Both of their powers clashed fiercely and it seemed like the entire earth was shaking. The clothes on Yun Che’s body had been ripped to shreds but the pupils of his eyes released a deep red light. He lashed out with the Heaven Smiting Sword again and again and each slash was accompanied by an earth-shattering boom.
Boom! Boom! Boooom…
Yun Che had made more than ten continuous slashes, forcing those nine beams of devil energy more than thirty meters into the distance, not allowing a single one to approach his body. The attack which had used about seventy percent of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s power had been completely blown away. After that, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s body shot out like a rocket and two black hands which seemed to emerge from the deepest abyss, streaming with the extremely dense dark devil energy, tore at Yun Che’s throat.
Boom!!
Sword and claw met as the scarlet red flames surged against pitch-black devil energy. Yun Che’s body shook and his upper body bent, causing a faint shock to shoot through his heart… This Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had actually used a hand that had been wrapped in darkness energy to clash directly with his Heaven Smiting Sword!
Just based on this point alone, Yun Che was absolutely convinced that if not for the Heaven Smiting Sword in his hand, he would definitely not be the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s opponent.
But the alarm and astonishment that shot through the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was one hundred times more intense! He was shocked that the power of a noble and superior devil such as himself had been blocked by this inferior human being!
What alarmed him even more was that… the moment his power came into contact with that vermillion greatsword, it suddenly weakened drastically! It was as if something had mysteriously siphoned that power away!
Pop! Pop! Pop…
All the bones in Yun Che’s body made small popping sounds and his originally dull red eyes became filled with frenzy and killing intent. Before the aftershock of the previous attack had completely dispersed, he suddenly somersaulted through the air as he smashed his sword toward the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign.
“Pathetic human being… if it’s just you alone, you can stop dreaming of matching blows with this king!!”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign gave a roar of extreme fury as both his claws shot out. At the same time, the pitch-black devilish light suddenly expanded and swelled by tens of meters. The darkness energy swept forward, intending to smash the Heaven Smiting Sword into pieces, reducing it to nothingness.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boooom…
Flames exploded violently and darkness energy wreaked havoc all over the place. Within the space of a few breaths, the flames and the devilish light had clashed against each other one hundred times as the small battlefield seemed to be engulfed in an apocalyptic calamity… If this was not the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, then even if it was an island that was five hundred kilometers wide, it would have been completely obliterated by now.
Blue Wind Nation. Blue Wind Imperial City. The main hall of the Imperial Palace.
Cang Yue lounged on a phoenix chair, a faint smile played across her fair face. Her heart was calm and peaceful as she casually perused a jade scroll.
At this moment, she felt a faint ripple of profound energy course through her Sound Transmission Jade.
Cang Yue put down her jade scroll and grasped the Sound Transmission Jade in her hand. The voice that came from the it was Xiao Lingxi’s voice… and Cang Yue could hear the anxiousness in her voice as well as faint traces of weeping.
“…What!” After she had finished listening to the Xiao Lingxi’s sound transmission, she shot to her feet, her crescent brows knitted together fiercely.
After she pondered the matter briefly, she grasped the Sound Transmission Jade once more as she sent a sound transmission back to Xiao Lingxi, “Lingxi, don’t be anxious. You need to devote all your energy into ensuring that Seventh Sister’s emotions remain stable, we definitely mustn’t allow anything to happen to the baby! I will immediately think of a way to transmit a message to my husband.”
Even after she put down the Sound Transmission Jade, Cang Yue’s phoenix brows remained furrowed for a long time. She whispered to herself, “Husband is currently at Supreme Ocean Palace, which is one hundred and fifty thousand kilometers distant. The highest grade Sound Transmission Talisman can only send a message over a distance of fifty thousand kilometers…”
“Only Frozen Cloud Asgard is left! Perhaps they will have a way to send a sound transmission to my husband!”
“Men! Summon Palace Chief Dongfang and Palace Chief Qin!” Cang Yue shouted in an anxious voice.
The highest grade Sound Transmission Talisman was only able to transmit over a distance of fifty thousand kilometers. Furthermore, it was also exceedingly expensive. Even so, it would still not be able to reach Supreme Ocean Palace, which laid one hundred and fifty thousand kilometers away. Frozen Cloud Asgard was their only remaining hope… but it just so happened that the only sound transmission imprints she had belonging to Frozen Cloud Asgard was those of Yun Che, Feng Xue’er and Xia Qingyue. But right now, none of them were not in the Frozen Cloud Asgard.
After a very short period of time, Dongfang Xiu and Qin Wushang had finally hurried over.
“Palace Chief Qin!” Cang Yue yelled, dispensing with all formalities as she rushed over to speak to them, “You need to immediately send a sound transmission to all the Profound Palaces within the Blue Wind Nation and order them to cease all other activities within the next three days as I want them to devote all their efforts into searching for traces of Xiao Yun!”
“Xiao Yun?” Qin Wushang and Dongfang Xie were both taken aback, “What has happened!?”
“Xiao Yun disappeared four hours ago.” Cang Yue said solemnly, “If someone else had disappeared for four hours, it wouldn’t be anything strange. But Xiao Yun normally doesn’t even stray half a step away from his wife. So for him to suddenly up and vanish is a very strange thing indeed! Palace Chief Qin, time is of the essence and we don’t have any of it left to explain things or second guess ourselves! You already know Xiao Yun’s age and appearance and before he disappeared, he was wearing plain white clothes and he had a white cloth wrapped around his waist… So go and inform all the Profound Palaces! But remember this, all the Profound Palaces must conduct their investigations covertly! We definitely must not disclose anything to the public! The moment anyone discovers a trace of Xiao Yun, he must make a report back with the fastest speed possible!”
“Understood!” Qin Wushang yelled. He knew that this matter was deadly serious and he did not speak any further. Instead, he turned around to carry out his orders.
“Do we need to dispatch anybody to Floating Cloud City?” Dongfang Xiu asked.
Cang Yue gently shook her head, “The profound strength of Xiao Yun and his wife are unrivaled in Blue Wind Nation. Even if you put them in the Heavenly Sword Villa, the other party was able to kidnap Xiao Yun without raising a single alarm. So if they wanted to take action against the others, no matter how many people we send, it won’t be of any use.”
“Palace Chief Dongfang, my hus… Yun Che is currently staying at Supreme Ocean Palace and only the disciples of Frozen Cloud Asgard will be able to contact him! I want you to depart for Frozen Cloud Asgard right away! Even if you have to travel day and night, you have to reach Frozen Cloud Asgard within the next twenty four hours, no matter what! Inform them of what has transpired! They will naturally know what to do after that.”
Dongfang Xiu gave a brief nod before he took the air and disappeared from the great hall as he rushed towards the north.
Chapter 781 - Fierce Battle within the Devil Nest
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boooom…
The Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was enduring the most terrifying calamity it had ever experienced in its existence as raging flames and sinister darkness filled every nook and cranny. The space within was crazily collapsing in on itself and the thunderous explosions sounded like they were being produced by a heavenly bell that was being repeatedly smashed by an enormous mountain… At this moment, if there were other profound practitioners on the scene, even if they were strong individuals who were at the Emperor Profound Realm, just these earth-shaking explosions would be enough to instantly cause their energy and blood to flow in reverse, rendering them unconscious.
And if they were slightly weaker than that, they might simply be killed on the spot, completely shattered in body and soul.
One man and one devil had already exchanged hundreds of blows in this sealed world of darkness. It was as though the both of them had come to an agreement of sorts, as their strength continued to rise with no end in sight… both man and devil kept pushing each other and testing the limits of each other’s power.
The catastrophe that had engulfed the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest grew more and more intense and it was as if the small world had been thrown into the mouth of an erupting volcano… Only the half-bloomed Netherworld Udumbara Flower remained undisturbed, even though it was right in the eye of the storm. It gently and leisurely swayed as it continued to let out those ghastly wails every now and then.
Bang!!!
Yun Che’s sword exploded forward but the body of the blade was smashed aside by the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. Flames which contained the strength of the heavy sword exploded against a stone wall that was more than one hundred fifty meters away. Immediately, an extremely shrill and piercing cracking sound muffled the explosions of the flames as a long crack which stretched all the way to the floor appeared on the stone wall.
To make a crack in the walls of this place was even harder than smashing apart an enormous mountain with the stroke of a sword!
Yun Che’s blade sliced through the air as he lost his balance, but he swiftly gathered himself. Grasping the five hundred thousand kilogram Heaven Smiting Sword easily in his hand, he immediately counterattacked, fiercely smashing the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s devilish claws aside.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Booooom…
The Moon Slaughter Devil Nest continued to shake as stone fragments began to fall from the crack in the stone wall that Yun Che had smashed. Before those fragments even hit the ground, they were swallowed up by an immeasurably frenzied vortex of energy.
After more than ten thousand exchanges, it was remarkable that the man and the devil were still evenly matched. From the start to now, neither party was able to gain even the slightest advantage over the other.
Yun Che’s expression was extremely gloomy, because this was no simple exchange of skills, this was a fight to the death. Between him and the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, one of them had to die… Yet his eyes were shining with an excitement which only seemed to grow fiercer still with each passing moment.
On the other hand, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was growing more and more alarmed.
He was a devil, a true devil from the ancient times and he was a ruler among the devils at that! Moreover, it was tacitly understood by all devils that humans were merely an inferior lifeform that was not much different from a scurrying ant. In the past, a casual wave of his hand would have been enough to destroy a planet that contained billions of humans.
So even though his life and soul origin ad sustained incredible damage and his current strength was not even a fraction of what it used to be, the contempt that he had for humans still remained carved into his very bones. Even though he was in his current weakened state, the aura that Yun Che exuded was still many times weaker than his own… and even though Yun Che held a bizarre blade that caused his power to recoil and his soul to tremble uncontrollably in fear, in the eyes of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, he was still an insect.
However, from the moment he had first exchanged blows with Yun Che, shock began to resonate within his soul. Not only did this shock not grow weaker with each exchange, it was instead growing more and more intense with each passing moment… Initially, he had not used all of his strength, because when he was facing a lowly creature such as this, using all of his might would be a huge stain on his name. After realizing that Yun Che’s strength was far greater than he had initially anticipated, he also began to increase the power that he used. But no matter how much his power rose, the other party was able to match it. And right now, it had reached the point where he was using ninety percent of his strength, yet he was still unable to suppress Yun Che.
The power that radiated from that vermillion greatsword alarmed him greatly. Given such power, every swing of that sword should expend a great amount of Yun Che’s energy, as he merely had the body of a mortal. Shockingly, even after a thousand sword strokes, not only had his blows not become softer, they were actually growing stronger and stronger with each swing…
This was a lowly creature with an inferior body and aura. Yet he seemed to hold a power that was not inferior to the power his devil god body bestowed him!
This damnable human being, he was definitely desperately holding on just by the skin of his teeth! Given his pathetic aura and his pathetic body, how can he continue to release such a level of power!?
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s expression warped fiercely as black light suddenly exploded out of his fiendish pupils. The highest level of the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night was instantly channeled and dark devil energy surged up from within his entire body without reservation.
Yun Che’s brows knit together as he let out a great roar. All of the muscles in his arms swelled, veins twisting and joints popping explosively as he shot forward using both feet as a spring. Berserk profound energy flowed from his entire body into his arms before surging into the Heaven Smiting Sword. Without holding back, he fiercely swept the sword forward.
Boooooom!!!
The dark earth beneath Yun Che’s feet had completely fractured and stone fragments were billowing in the air like leaves in his wake. He heavily smashed into the wall behind him with a loud crash… the overly strong stone wall caused the enormous power that he had endured to completely rebound back into him, rendering his entire body numb. His consciousness instantly blanked as he nearly spat a large amount of blood out of his mouth.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was not in a much better state than he was. He had been sent flying overhead by Yun Che’s sword smash. His huge devil body had smashed into the stone ceiling above before violently rebounding off of it. After that, he had rolled for tens of meters before he finally smashed into a stone wall.
When the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign finally stood up, his eyes and expression had completely changed. Even his breathing had grown incredibly rough and heavy.
He… a mighty devil lord, to think that he had actually been sent flying by a human being!!
Sent flying by a human being!!
Sent flying!!
It was like a devilish curse that resonated in his ears and his soul again and again. When he had been wounded by Yun Che’s sword at first, it was because he had been in a total state of shock and so he did not react fast enough to defend. But this time around, he had clearly used all of his powers in an all-out clash, and there were no cheap tricks involved either, yet he was still sent flying in the end!!
Sent flying by a human being!
What kind of a humiliation was that!?
It also clearly proved that… the human who stood in front of him, the one that he had thought to be no more significant than an ant, actually had power that rivalled his own!
Yun Che had gotten to his feet before the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign and even though he had endured an attack from his opponent at full strength, the five hundred thousand kilogram Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword had not budged from his grip. Though some of his bones had sustained hairline fractures and more than ten of his veins had snapped, to him, these were merely superficial injuries. He stabilized his energy and blood before slowly sauntering towards the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, “Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, you kept calling me a pathetic and lowly human being, so here I was, thinking that you were hot stuff… But it turns out that you only amount to this much after all!!”
“You… dare… to…”
Regardless of Yun Che’s reckless mockery, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had already become so incensed and ashamed because of this humiliation that all his rationality had practically flown out the window. During the Primordial Era, even in the world of devils, he was still one of the devils that stood above the rest! Mere human beings were not even qualified to kneel in his presence!
Yet right now, he had been sent flying by a human, had been wounded by a human, was being looked upon contemptuously by a human and had even received mockery from a human.
This was like no humiliation he had ever experienced before in his lifetime!!
“Light… less… Eternal… Night!!”
As he chanted those words in a voice filled with enough hate to encompass the universe. Boundless darkness descended from above like a pitch-black curtain. It instantly plunged Yun Che into a quagmire of darkness as that terrifying devouring power immediately assaulted both his body and soul. Every cell in his body seemed to be swarmed by countless dark and sinister hands which tried to drag him towards the abyss of death.
Yun Che instantly recognized it. This was actually the move that Fen Juechen had used during their duel several months ago. The Dark Domain that he had released when he was on the brink of defeat, regardless of the cost.
During that moment, all the light had been swallowed up and it was as if he had been pulled into an endless dark quagmire… It was only the Heaven Smiting Sword that was still able to emit that unrelenting vermillion light within the boundless darkness. When he brandished the sword, that streak of vermillion light had easily torn through the unending night.
The Lightless Eternal Night that was used by the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was many times stronger than the one that Fen Juechen had used. But the vermillion light of the Heaven Smiting Sword continued to flash in the midst of that dark abyss! In this dense and inky darkness, the light emitted by the sword was even more eye-catching.
“Break!!”
“Yellow Springs Ashes!!”
The Heaven Smiting Sword smashed forward heavily, instantly slashing apart this world of darkness as its sweeping blade formed a true vacuum which extended out more than ten meters in diameter. The frenzied Golden Crow flames ignited and spread like wildfire as they fiercely penetrated every nook and cranny of this dark world. In the blink of an eye, the world within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest seemed to be engulfed in crimson black lava that looked tyrannical enough to annihilate everything.
Darkness and fire tore at one another and in the midst of this catastrophic collision, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign and Yun Che resumed their battle once more. This time, the man and the devil no longer bothered testing each other’s strength. Every claw and sword stroke was sent out with full force. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s expression was so warped that it barely resembled anything normal anymore. The roars coming from his mouth no longer held his previous devilish majesty, instead, they sounded malevolent and terrifying. All of the veins in Yun Che’s body were burning and every stroke of his sword was accompanied by a hoarse cry of fury.
Lightless Eternal Night, Yellow Springs Ashes… Both of them had activated startlingly powerful domains, yet both attacks were confined within the tiny interior of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. The current Moon Slaughter Devil Nest could not merely be called a world that had been stricken by calamity, it had practically become a hell of destruction! It would not matter if the living or the dead entered this place, because within a few short seconds, they would all be reduced to nothingness.
Even though it had become such a realm of destruction, both opponents still continued to crazily claw at each other within.
Yun Che’s clothes had long since been blown to shreds. His skin was a startling crimson-black color and his entire body was covered with hundreds of big and small holes, some of which were so deep that they nearly exposed bone. Many clusters of flame burned on the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s body as well but the two seemed to be completely indifferent to their own injuries and their opponent’s injuries. They did not care about what damage their respective domains wrought on each other and every single attack that was being made was extremely fierce and deadly… They were doing their utmost to consign their opponent to the grave!
One devil and one man had fought to the point where both parties seemed insane. Within the Sky Poison Pearl, Jasmine had been quietly observing this vicious fight. Just like the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, she had never thought that Yun Che could go toe to toe with the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign without exhausting all of his trump cards.
The most important reason for this was Hong’er… in other words, the existence of the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword!
Hong’er’s presence allowed Yun Che to completely escape the spiritual suppression that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had inflicted on him purely based on the fact that the level of his power far exceeded that of Yun Che. At the same time, this same suppression was instead visited upon the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign himself!
During this fierce and vicious duel, Yun Che had managed to maintain his eager and composed state of my mind. Yet the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, who had ten thousand times the amount of experience in cultivating his mental state, had been in a state of constant frenzied rage… and within this rage, Jasmine could still detect the uncontrollable trembling of his soul.
Furthermore, when the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s power approached Yun Che… or more accurately, approached the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword, it would instantly weaken by a full thirty percent! Such a great decline in power was not accompanied by any grand show or series of events, it simply seemed as if that power had suddenly vanished into thin air!
In other words, even though the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was using all of his strength, Yun Che only endured what amounted to seventy percent of his full power.
This point was something that Yun Che had not noticed but the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was well aware of it. Jasmine had also clearly detected this as well.
With all these factors added together, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, who was clearly far superior to Yun Che in every aspect, was drawn into a deadly struggle with Yun Che, something that he had not even dreamed possible.
And the source behind all of these factors was the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword!
A devil slayer sword was the bane of all devils.
But the constraints that the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword had placed on the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s far exceeded the effects of any other devil slayer sword that were recorded in the memories that Jasmine had inherited.
The name “Heaven Smiting Devil God Sword” that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had at first shouted out and then denied had caused an enormous ripple to resonate in Jasmine’s heart and up till now, she still could not calm her heart and mind.
——————————
The world inside the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was being turned upside down. But the outside world which was separated from it by that shimmering blue barrier was calm and peaceful.
The sky had gradually darkened but Feng Xue’er remained rooted to her original position. No matter how hard the ocean winds blew, she had not moved even half a step. Those pretty eyes which contained the most beautiful and brilliant light in the world remain focused solely on the shimmering blue barrier in front of them. Her gaze did not waver for even a second, as if she was afraid that she would miss something in that instant.
Xia Yuanba flew over from far away before finally arriving at Feng Xue’er’s side. It had been more than eight hours since Yun Che had been sealed within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. In these eight hours, he had paced around the barrier that surrounded it countless times. He had tried his hardest to find anything abnormal about the barrier but he was unable to detect even the slightest ripple of profound energy.
Feng Xue’er stood there in a complete daze, her eyes vacant. Xia Yuanba’s heart was pained at that sight and once more, he tried to comfort her in a soft voice, “Little Sister Xue’er, you should go back to the Ocean Palace to rest first. Your father and family are definitely extremely worried about you. I will keep watch over this place and the moment Brother-in-law comes out, I will inform you immediately… you know, your father came here about an hour ago. He surveyed us from a distance before leaving again.”
“…I want to wait here for Big Brother Yun.” Feng Xue’er murmured in a soft and gentle voice, “If I am not here when he comes out of that place, he will definitely be worried.”
“…” Xia Yuanba gave a quiet sigh and did not attempt to advise her any further. He flew to the spot that was directly above the middle of the barrier as he tried to detect any changes that occurred in this silent world. Before today, he had never thought that this girl, who was more gently beautiful than the purest snow, would have such a stubborn and obstinate side to her.
“Ah but women… they really are troublesome.” Xia Yuanba quietly muttered to himself with emotion, “I think it would be better if I don’t find a wife for my entire life.”
Chapter 782 - Devil Transformation
Boom boom boom…
It was as if countless bolts of heavenly lightning were exploding in the air as more and more of the black stone that had been tempered by the darkness energy for ten thousand years began to crumble apart. Then, the stone fragments were fiercely sucked into the powerful currents of profound energy flowing through the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. Fire light shot out in all directions as darkness saturated the air. The Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’s quaking did not abate in the slightest.
Both man and devil had been bogged down in furious combat for an unknown period of time. The wounds on both their bodies were too numerous to count but the power that exploded out from the both of them were still sufficient to shake the heavens and move the earth. In both of his lives, Yun Che had gone through countless life-and-death battles but none of those battles had lasted as long nor been as vicious as this one.
Even though Yun Che had entered the highest tier of profound strength that existed within the Profound Sky Continent, there were still many people from the Four Great Sacred Grounds who could defeat him.
However in terms of endurance and recovery ability, he was undoubtedly number one in the entire Profound Sky Continent.
When he had dueled with Fen Juechen several months ago, he had not known that Hong’er was able to restrict his powers. So he had to rely on his absurdly strong recovery ability to outlast Fen Juechen and defeat him. But today, he had met an opponent whose endurance and recovery ability was no less than his own.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign who possessed a devil body!!
Their fight had lasted for several hours but every blow that they sent at each other was still deadly and incisive. However, their power, speed, and the sharpness of their attacks had clearly declined. Both of them had been similarly weakened, so neither party could gain a clear edge.
Boom!!
The Heaven Smiting Sword clashed with the devil claws of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign in midair as another thunderous explosion resounded. A large amount of black stone was pounded into dust by the aftershock of that attack, causing the air in the entire Moon Slaughter Devil Nest to grow gray and hazy.
Darkness energy and Golden Crow flames crazily circulated around the two as the respective energies attempted to tear away and devour one another. It was literally like seeing two vicious beasts which hated each other engage in combat.
Bang!!
The ground that had already begun to sink beneath their feet started to fracture even more. The stone ceiling above their heads had also begun to resemble a giant dome. At this point, the devil claws that clashed with Yun Che’s heavy sword suddenly drew back. With a howl of fury, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign thrust out both his hands. Ten ebon beams of profound light shot out from each of histen emaciated, claw-like fingers as they stabbed towards Yun Che’s chest.
Yun Che’s body unconsciously started to move backwards. Through sheer force of will, he stubbornly stopped his first reaction, forcing his body to stay put. He neither tried to dodge, nor counter strike, instead pouring all of the profound energy protecting his body into his arms. As the pupils of eyes contacted, he sent his sword sweeping towards the chest of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign.
The boundless pressure generated by this sword stroke threatened to collapse the space in a thirty meter radius around them.
Boom!
The sword beam generated by the Heaven Smiting Sword fiercely swept across the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s chest. There was a sickening snap as the largest bone in his chest was smashed into several pieces and his body was flung hundreds of meters away.. However, all ten beams of the dark devil energy that were shot out by the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign also stabbed into Yun Che’s body, causing his vision to go dark as his body stumbled back furiously. However, both his hands still remained tightly locked around the vermillion greatsword and he refused to allow it to leave his hands.
A miserable howl of pain rang out as the longest vermillion sword wound to date had been inflicted on the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s chest. The wound also brought along pain and trauma that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had never experienced before. The heavy sword energy that surged out from the vermillion sword wound on his chest, poured into his devil body as it wreaked wanton destruction on his body and already weakened life force.
Even though a long time had passed, Yun Che remained sitting slumped on the ground and still had not gotten up yet. The ten beams of dark devil energy that bored into his body were like ten devilish needles that came from the depths of the underworld themselves. They ate away at his flesh, meridians and internal organs, wracking his body with so much pain that even his soul could barely stand it.
He pressed his lips together tightly, refusing to let even a hiss of pain escape his lips.
“Stop inhaling right now. Use the cleansing power of the Phoenix flames and the destructive power of the Evil God’s profound energy!” Jasmine exclaimed in a low voice, “You are really far too reckless! That energy originated from a true devil! If it enters your body, no ordinary profound energy will be able to cleanse it away! If not for you possessing the profound energy of the Evil God and the cleansing power of the Phoenix flames, you would have basically thrown away half your life there and then!”
Yun Che fiercely gritted his teeth while quickly regaining his composure. Phoenix flames began to swiftly circulate throughout his body as he also used the Evil God’s profound energy to wrap up those ten beams of dark devil energy. In a short amount of time, all ten beams of devilish energy were sealed tightly before they were purified by both the Phoenix flames and Evil God’s profound energy working in tandem.
Pfft!
Yun Che lurched forward as a large amount of black blood sprayed from his mouth. All of the energy in his body, as well as his five senses, became clear. Unfortunately, his aura had weakened by yet another degree.
But it was clear that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was in a far worse situation.
Yun Che had taken those ten beams of devilish energy in order to land an extremely heavy blow on the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s miserable cries of incredible pain sent a loud and clear message to Yun Che; that he had gotten the better of that exchange! Even though the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had already gotten to his feet, the vermillion light clearly showed a hole the size of a human head carved into his chest. Black blood poured out from that hole and Yun Che could even see the broken pitch-black bones jutting out from inside.
Even though the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign tried his best not to cry out, the uncontrollable spasming of his body clearly showed how much pain he was enduring. However, his alarm was far greater than his pain!
Even though his vitality had been sapped, he still had a devil body! No matter how weak a devil body was, it was still something that a mortal’s body could not hope to compete with! Furthermore, due to the lingering devil energy within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, his wounds and his energy were recovering far faster than they normally did.
He had been forced to use his profound energy from the very start, after such a long and vicious battle, only half his profound energy remained. Given that his opponent had the body of a mortal, his energy should have long been exhausted. But the young human in front of him was weakening at the same rate as he was!
Even the wounds on his body, carved out by the corrosive dark devil energy, were recovering at a rate that completely defied logic.
As for his own wounds… The burns left behind by the Golden Crow flames were still manageable, but the wounds left behind by that vermillion greatsword were another thing altogether! Not only did every one of them caused him immense and unbearable pain, they were recovering at a rate that was more than ten times slower than usual!
“You… who exactly are you!?” As he saw Yun Che, who had taken all ten beams of his devil energy, get up so quickly and calmly, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s pupils widened. He pressed both hands against the hole in his chest and every single finger was trembling as he continued, “You’re not human… what exactly are you!?”
His voice now quivered with fear.
Even the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was surprised to hear the fear in his own voice.
He had originally thought that he had encountered a human with a death wish.
Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that he would meet a monster among human beings!!
Given that inferior human body, how could he possess this kind of vitality and recovery ability… Furthermore, all of this was occurring while he was stuck in an environment where darkness energy was sapping away at his life at every second!
The sword Yun Che held in his hand was also far more dreadful than any other sword the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had seen during the Primordial Era!!
Even when he had faced off against a true devil slayer sword all those years ago, he had not been seized by this unconscious trembling that he was feeling right now.
“My name is Yun Che and you will find no man more ordinary than I!” Yun Che said as he strode slowly towards the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, “Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign! The era of gods and devils has long since come to a close! A million years ago, you should have stopped existing in this world! Today, regardless of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, I would still have to consign you to the grave!!”
“Consign this king to the grave? With just you!?” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign growled through gritted teeth. No matter how bad his situation became, he had never imagined he would ever be reduced to such a pathetic state! And at the hands of a human at that! Boundless fury and humiliation ate away at his already fading rationality and he suddenly let out a furious roar as his entire body was engulfed in a gloomy black fog. At the same time, the crimson black devil tattoos on his chest and back began radiating a deep bloody light.
“You arrogant, ignorant and pathetic human being… this king will let you know just how strong the devil clan is! If you think you alone are capable of defeating this king… you need to stop dreaming!!”
The blood red devil tattoos began to twist and warp as they gradually formed into row upon row of strange runes. The hair on the Moon Devil Sovereign’s head grew even longer as all the bones in his body cracked so loudly that it sounded like a boulder had fractured. The muscles on his body swelled explosively as all four of his limbs instantly doubled in thickness. The blood red meridians present throughout his entire body twisted like earthworms.
A low, pain-filled, roar tore from the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s throat as his body distorted and twisted like a thrashing snake. Jet-black scales quickly appeared on his skin, covering his entire body., A layer of dense, white bone armor grew on his arms and legs. It was as if his bones had been spat out from his flesh so they could wrap around his muscles instead.
This dreadful and bizarre transformation sent a jolt of shock through Yun Che’s heart and he immediately stopped moving forward. At the same time, he could clearly feel the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s aura spike tremendously… Furthermore, it had also become even more sinister and tyrannical than before.
“It’s a transformation!” Jasmine’s exclaimed in a similarly shocked voice but Yun Che heard more caution than alarm.
“All of the ancient devils were able to transform themselves! This type of transformation is different from the shapechange that you are familiar with. It is a method that transforms the body to allow for greater control and release of power. After the transformation is complete, that person will be able to use all of his power. However, the burden on his body and the amount of energy being consumed will greatly increase as well. They would normally only transform into their full-powered state when they were drawn into life-and-death battles! There are some devils that can even undergo multiple transformations as well.”
Zzzt!!
A pair of teeth, which glowed with a dense cold light, extended out of his mouth. They looked like the fangs of a wolf as they flashed with a glaring cold light. Sinister bone spikes had also grown out of his elbows and knees… Finally, the imprint of a blood moon had shockingly appeared on his chest!!
This was the imprint that belong solely to him, the king of the Eternal Night Devil Clan!
During the Primordial Era, this imprint would cause ten thousand devils to bend their knee in submission! But today, a mere human had forced it out!
His fury and power began to spike crazily as the whirling darkness energy coalesced into howling gales. This completely stopped Yun Che’s breath as an incomparably heavy pressure assaulted him from all sides, nearly crushing his chest and bending his back.
“His power… has actually risen by a massive amount in just an instant!!” Yun Che, who had originally intended to assault the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign while he was in the midst of his transformation, was slowly being forced backwards by the sharply increasing devil energy. He used both hands to brace himself as a deep expression of shock appeared on his face.
Jasmine let out a emotionless and cold laugh instead, “The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign definitely never imagined that you would be able to force him to transform! The current Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign is a far cry from the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign from the Primordial Era! Given his extremely depleted life force, not only will he have to pay an extremely high price for his transformation but it won’t last long either! Otherwise, he would not have waited until now to transform!”
“In his current state, it won’t be easy to go toe-to-toe with him. You’ll need to use Star God’s Broken Shadow and Extreme Mirage Lightning to engage him! However, in these tight and narrow confines, it seems like it’s nearly impossible to do so!” Jasmine’s brows twitched before she made a decision, “Activate your Profound Handle! Even though it will increase the amount of energy you’re consuming and might not help you span the power gap of transformed Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, at least… the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign won’t have such an easy time of defeating you while he is transformed!”
“Alright!” Yun Che nodded his head as he changed his grip on his sword, putting his left arm forward instead of his right.
Chapter 783 - Blooming of the Udumbara
“Haa… haa… haa…”
At last, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign finished his transformation. However, for something that would have taken a mere instant in the past, even he had not imagined it now required such a long period of time. Now transformed, the aura of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had grown immensely, the dark devil energy surrounding his body doubling in thickness and density. Yet, his expression lacked any hint of arrogance or complacency that typically came with absolute power. Rather, it seemed to radiate with sinister fury… and hatred.
Since he was not the same Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign he was one million years ago, this transformation had further delayed the full restoration of his life origin by at least another thousand years!!
He had felt this very clearly… had he chosen not to transform, he would have very possibly met his end by Yun Che’s hands on this very day!
“In my current state, this king will need no more than ten breaths to kill you!!
“Die!!”
The transformation had greatly increased the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s power, but the enormous burden it put on him made him feel as if his body was going to fall apart at any moment. Without any further delay, he took to the air with a furious roar and rushed towards Yun Che. The sudden change in speed spread waves of alarm through Yun Che’s heart.
After the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign transformed, his speed had also massively increased. Yun Che immediately determined that the current speed of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign exceeded his own when he was using Extreme Mirage Lightning! This also meant that even if this place was a wide and boundless region instead of the cramped Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, he could forget about using speed to escape!
Devil energy swirled in the air as sinister winds whistled about. As the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign shot into the air, he had caused all the broken stone fragments to whirl upwards. The terrifying and incredible wind pressure had actually gouged deep grooves into the incredibly tough ground!
His two dark devil claws had grown twice as large and were wrapped in dark light. They seemed to morph into dragon claws as they ripped at Yun Che… Though they were three hundred meters away, they still caused Yun Che’s body to freeze as his feet seemed to sink into the ground.
Yun Che’s gaze focused coldly. After taking a deep breath, he used Star God’s Broken Shadow to instantly escape.
Boom——
The claws of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign smashed fiercely onto the ground, immediately shattering all the stone walls in a thirty-meter radius. Even Yun Che, who had managed to dodge in the nick of time, was smashed in the chest by the roaring and billowing dark energy waves. He let out a low moan as he rolled backwards.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign sent blow after blow flying through the air without much aiming yet all of them immediately home in on Yun Che. His body was sent flying through the air as an enormous dark shadow completely engulfed him.
Yun Che swiftly turned around in midair. All of the profound energy in his body circulated as the figure of the Phoenix and Golden Crow simultaneously appeared behind his back. His left arm also lit up with a strange blue light as the vermillion flashing greatsword, wreathed in the divine fires of both the Phoenix and the Golden Crow, exploded downwards.
Even though Yun Che was facing the transformed Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign who had gotten significantly stronger, he still decided to go with a simple head-to-head clash!
Rrrmb!!
Darkness and flames instantly clashed and interweaved, becoming an ocean of catastrophic energy that blindly engulfed everything within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.
Within this ocean of calamitous energy, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign howled in anger as his long hair fluttered haphazardly in the wind. He felt his power being obstructed and immediately raised his head to let out a great laugh… However, this laughter lasted for just a split second before it cut off… because his power had actually been unable to break through the resistance and destroy Yun Che. Instead, all he could see was his power being forced to a ten-meter standstill, unable to advance even an inch further.
“Wha… what!?” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s pupils grew large. He could feel that there hadn’t been any change to Yun Che’s aura, but beside him, another aura had suddenly appeared! This aura was roughly only half as strong as Yun Che himself but together with Yun Che, it had managed to somehow block his power!
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign let out another furious roar as he raised both of his bone-plated arms. Those shockingly huge arms began to swell up even more before he began to launch a torrent of blows at Yun Che. Terrifying dark devil energy surged like a tsunami as they exploded towards Yun Che, who had nowhere left to run or hide.
“Haah!!” Yun Che let out a furious shout of his own as he swung the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword with all his strength. Every sword stroke launched a profound energy storm that was powerful enough to annihilate everything that stood in its path. Beside him, the Profound Handle which had taken the form of a heavy sword also danced alongside the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword. Both heavy swords wove a dance of blades as they formed an extremely tyrannical and powerful “Heavy Sword Domain” around Yun Che which expelled the dark devil energy out of it.
“This… this is impossible!!”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s scalp went numb as his pupils grew even larger. When Yun Che held off his attacks before, it had already far exceeded his expectations. Moreover, it also forced him to pay a heavy price and transform into his battle form. He had thought that once he released all of his power, he would have the power to completely flatten Yun Che and that would have been as easy as flipping his palm. Not once had he ever imagined that the attack he launched after his transformation would actually be completely blocked by Yun Che!
He released his power in a frenzy and every single time he attacked, he did so with all of his might. He held nothing back. Even after thousands of continuous blows, Yun Che still stood there alive, having smashed aside every single one of his attacks!!
“AHHHHHHH!!!”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s fluttering hair immediately stood on end as the imprint of the blood moon on his chest shone with a ghastly and terrifying crimson black light. Every single devil tattoo on his body also began to shine with a frightening, bloody light.
All of the dark devil energy came to a stop in that very instant and an absolute silence instantly settled over the world. It was as if time itself had suddenly stopped. Following that, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign let out a howl which seemed to come from the depths of purgatory as all the darkness energy in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest began to dance furiously as they merged together to form a gigantic devil god that seemed to come from the depths of the underworld. The giant mass of darkness energy surged forward, swallowing up the tiny and insignificant Yun Che into the boundless and endless darkness.
“Eternal Night’s Oblivion!!”
The boundless darkness pressed down from all directions as it devoured light, devoured space and even devoured his heavy sword storm. In the next instant, it might just devour him and his profound handle completely as well.
No shock or fear appeared on Yun Che’s face. His gaze grew dark and cold and the flames on his body, which were burning with all their might, intensified by yet another degree. Raising both the greatsword in his hand and the heavy sword that the Profound Handle had become at the same time, he released two vast and boundless auras which would even cause the heavens and earth to lose color.
“Destroying Sky Decimating Earth!!”
BOOOM!!!!
The terrifying explosion consumed all the other sounds in this tiny world.
Terrifying energy explosions spread all over the place as both the air and the ground shook. Even space itself recoiled at this dreadful energy as the shrill wail of space being torn asunder echoed through the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.
Following that, three kilometers of space instantly collapsed. In front of this kind of power, space itself had become as weak and fragile as a thin sheet of paper.
Black holes of various sizes instantly flashed into existence before fading out as quick as they appeared.
Yun Che and the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign naturally had to endure the massive impact and aftershocks left in the wake of the rampaging energy explosions.
The two of them were forced three hundred meters apart. If not for the extremely hard and durable black stone walls blocking their flight, they might have been pushed tens of kilometers away by the impact.
Yun Che leaned on a stone wall as he slowly got to his feet. By the time he stood up, the black stone wall collapsed with a loud bang.
Streams of blood poured down the blade of the Heaven Smiting Sword. His arms had largely borne the impact of that terrifying energy blast. The webs between his thumb and his index finger on both hands were split, many wounds had appeared on both his arms and he had sustained more than ten fractures by the impact alone. But he did not feel the slightest bit of pain… He just felt a numbness that was overly intense, so intense that he lost nearly all feeling in both his arms. It was his willpower and determination alone that allowed him to still firmly grasp that five-hundred-thousand-kilogram sword.
The Profound Handle had disappeared as well. It had been blasted to pieces by that energy blast—but the Profound Handle was a power that came from his bloodline. Even if it was shattered another ten thousand times, he could still summon it once again.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s injuries looked far lighter than Yun Che’s. Other than the chest bone that Yun Che had previously broken, only the bone spike on his right arm had been snapped, as blood freely flowed down that arm.
But that was just how things appeared. In reality, his situation was far worse than Yun Che. Because if Yun Che activated his Profound Handle, he only increased the consumption of his profound energy.
But when the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was transformed, not only did he consume more energy, his body also had to endure an enormous burden! And he had just been desperately using all of his power in spite of this, so one could well imagine what the consequences would be.
If Yun Che got a bit closer, he would be able to see that the scales and bone plating on his body were astonishingly covered with many tiny cracks.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s body went limp as he sank to the ground numbly, unable to climb up for quite some time. The dark pupils of his eyes contracted fearfully as though he was trapped in a nightmare.
“Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign… have you… already… reached your limit!?”
Yun Che dragged the Heaven Smiting Sword behind him as he walked slowly towards the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. His voice had become hoarse, his feet felt like lead, and his breathing had become incredibly heavy and rough. Whether it was the Profound Handle or the “Destroying Sky Decimating Earth” technique, all of them had consumed an extremely large amount of his energy. Coupled with the wounds he had sustained on his arms and his internal organs, he was in an incredibly bad state.
But he could tell that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was in even worse shape than he was! Even though he could still maintain his transformation, his aura had dropped to the point where it was even weaker than Yun Che’s.
Even if the wounds on his body were ten times worse, Yun Che would not waste time worrying over things… because he absolutely could not give the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign a chance to catch his breath.
“You… you aren’t… human!!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign forced himself to his feet. He tried with all his might to gather devil energy but it was as if his devil body had transformed into a leaky wooden bucket. No matter how he tried to gather his energy, he was unable to suppress Yun Che’s aura.
So now, he was completely incapable of believing that Yun Che was a human being… Given a human being’s weak physique, how could he have a vitality and endurance that even exceeded his own!
“Sorry to disappoint you! I am a human being raised on the very soil of the Profound Sky Continent! Today is the day that you will die… and it is the result of looking down on humans!”
The feeling in his arms began to come back as intense pain replaced numbness. Yun Che started gasping heavily as he tightened his grip around the Heaven Smiting Sword.
“Heeheeheehee… Kekekehahahaha… Huhuhuhu… Wahahahaha…”
It was at this moment that an extremely dreadful and sinister laugh rang out from the depths of the cave behind the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. It sounded like laughter and wailing mixed together, and just hearing it would cause one’s blood to go cold as all the fear in one’s body congealed to one spot.
Yun Che’s feet subconsciously ground to a halt. That was the sound emitted by the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. From what he remembered, he had only heard the ghastly wailing of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower when his group had come within a hundred and fifty meters of it. Whether it was due to them leaving or his vicious battle with the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, once he left that radius, he was no longer able to hear that sound.
Right now, he was standing roughly one and a half kilometers away from the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, yet he could clearly hear that ghostly wail, as if it was right by his ear! Furthermore, it sounded even more sinister and soul-shaking than before. Just hearing it caused Yun Che’s heart to tremble.
At this moment, a wild and triumphant smile suddenly appeared on the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s face.
“The heavens are aiding this king… ha… hahahahaha!!”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign let out a wild and crazy laugh as he crazily circulated all the remaining energy in his body. He allowed all the wounds on his body to split open and as a fierce current of darkness energy streamed around his body, he rushed towards the depths of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.
Yun Che was dazed for an instant. But following that, his expression changed. Could it be that…
“You need to stop him immediately!!” Jasmine suddenly shouted. “It must be because the Netherworld Udumbara fully bloomed! It holds a giant amount of nether yin energy and if he consumes it, not only will his soul origin be repaired fully, it will also replenish his strength and rapidly heal all his wounds!”
Bang!!
All of the profound energy in Yun Che’s body flared as the wounds all over his arms ripped open, spraying fresh blood everywhere. He immediately put the Heaven Smiting Sword away, his body blurring into streak of lightning as he chased after the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign.
Chapter 784 - Desperate Straits
“Hahahaha… hahahahaha! The heavens are aiding this king, the heavens are aiding this king!!”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign laughed as he madly sprinted forward. His laughter was even more wanton and arrogant than it had ever been before. The Netherworld Udumbara Flower only bloomed once every twenty four years and it was this moment that he anticipated the most every twenty four years. Furthermore, this time he was many times more excited by it than ever before!!
Because this time, not only would the Netherworld Udumbara Flower repair his tattered soul origin, it would also greatly boost his soul power, vitality and profound energy for a short while! It would even increase the recovery of his wounds by several times! Before, all of these effects were useless to him but right now, they could completely change his destiny!!
The past few days, he perched on the ceiling above the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, spending every second keeping watch over it, patiently waiting for the moment when it fully bloomed. Now that it had finally bloomed, it was like the heavens themselves had given him a gift as it had bloomed when he needed it the most.
He only needed a short span of twenty breaths to consume the fully bloomed Netherworld Udumbara Flower, which would allow his dark profound energy to mostly recover! During the vicious battle with Yun Che, he had come out only slightly worse than Yun Che. Thus, if he could recover to that extent, he would definitely be able to turn the tables on Yun Che and suppress him completely!
“You must catch up to him!! If he devours that Netherworld Udumbara Flower, your death will be all but assured!!” Jasmine’s voice was filled with immeasurable solemnity and resentment… Given her level of power, if they were in any other location, she would need a mere instant to extinguish the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign!
But the battle just had to take place here. In this place, she could not even leave Yun Che’s body, much less use her powers!
Yun Che used all of his profound energy as he pushed the Extreme Mirage Lightning technique to its utmost limit, gritting his teeth so hard they nearly broke. When it came to the amount of profound energy they had consumed, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had roughly used the same amount as him but when it came to their injuries, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had clearly been injured worse than him. This coupled with the fact that Yun Che’s speed had always been superior to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s speed in the first place meant that Yun Che was quickly catching up to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, even though both of them were traveling at their fastest speed. In the blink of an eye, he had forcefully closed the gap between them to about one hundred and fifty meters.
Now that all of his profound energy was devoted to increasing his speed, not only did the internal and external injuries he had sustained stop stabilizing, they quickly began to grow worse… But in the current situation, he could not afford to pay attention to that.
He should… be able to catch up!!
Within a few breaths, he had rushed into the depths of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest and pulled within one hundred meters of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. The wailing laughter of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, echoing in his ear, became increasingly clear as he drew closer and closer.
Suddenly, Jasmine noticed something as she shouted in alarm, “Wait! Wait! Stop chasing him!!”
At this moment, a fantastical ghostly light had suddenly emerged within Yun Che’s eyes.
The previously curled-up Netherworld Udumbara Flower was finally fully bloomed, its nine fully unfurled petals arranged prettily as it released an extremely deep and gloomy purple light. In the darkness, that gloomy purple light completely engulfed everything. Yun Che was not able to see the base of the flower or the stamen and he could not see the gently swaying stalk either. It was as if those nine flower petals were floating in a sea of darkness as they released a mysterious and dangerous bewitching purple light.
Reflected in Yun Che’s eyes was… It was as if he had suddenly seen nine demonic eyes!!
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign gave a wild and triumphant laugh as he had already rushed in front of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. He could sense Yun Che quickly closing in behind him but he did not turn around, the blood-smeared corner of his mouth hooking into a cold and mocking grin.
Ding!
The world in front of Yun Che changed from a dark world streaked with purple light to a completely white one that was still streaked with purple. Even the sounds around him had suddenly died down… the sound of wind that roared in his ears, due to the speed he was traveling, had vanished into thin air.
The only sound that was left was the ghostly wailing of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower.
The whole world seemed to have transformed into a field of white in an instant.
Purple light swiftly spread within this white world as it gradually stained the entire world. The ghostly wailing began growing closer and closer, clearer and clearer. The sound was even growing more and more beautiful and pleasing to the ear… It slowly changed from the sinister and bone-grating sound he had first heard to something which sounded as sweet and melodious as notes from heaven…
The purple world and the sweet and beautiful melody were able to drown a person in a fantastical dreamscape. Within this dreamscape, familiar scenes and faces began to appear. Cang Yue, Feng Xue’er, Xiao Lingxi, Xia Qingyue, Chu Yuechan, the Little Demon Empress… Each of them appeared one after the other and every one of them had the most gentle and beautiful of smiles on their faces. One pair of beautiful eyes after another gently gazed at him as the purple world slowly began to drift away…
Further and further… more and more hazy…
“Yun Che! Retreat immediately!!”
A shrill shout resounded like thunder in the purple world.
Bang!!
The purple-colored dream world instantly shattered as all the illusions disappeared. After that, an enormous pain assaulted Yun Che. It felt as if hundreds or thousands of steel needles were piercing his heart and soul, causing him to hold his head with both hands as hoarse wails of pain escaped his throat.
He felt as if countless dark hands were tearing at his soul, as if they were trying to pluck all the memories, will and beliefs… from his living body!
Yun Che had experienced mental assaults and battles of the soul far too many times but none of them had been as terrifying and cruel as this one. This feeling of his soul tearing and ripping felt colder and clearer than a knife carving into his body… He had never known nor had he ever imagined that mental assaults could be this terrifying!!
As his soul struggled in pain, he nearly lost control of his power and body. His entire person knelt on the ground as his body shivered crazily, his forehead matted in cold sweat.
Moreover, he was still a full sixty meters away from the Netherworld Udumbara Flower!!
“Hurry up and retreat!!”
Jasmine’s voice cracked like thunder in his head once more, helping Yun Che recover some modicum of clarity as he was engaged in a fierce struggle for his soul. He gave a fierce howl as he desperately gathered and focused all of his energy, tumbling backwards in an extremely distorted and painstaking fashion.
Bang!!
Yun Che’s head fiercely hit the ground and he rolled and tumbled backwards several times before coming to a stop. During this bumpy ride, he had rolled backwards more than sixty meters. It still felt like his soul was being torn to shreds but it had weakened to the point where he could easily deal with it.
Yun Che propped himself up using his arms as he gasped for breath. Cold sweat streamed down his forehead and rarely-seen fear and alarm could be seen in his eyes.
So that was the… Netherworld Udumbara Flower’s soul stealing ability!?
To think that it was this dreadful… Why was it this dreadful!!?
He was still so far away just now, but it was already that terrifying! If he went even nearer in order to harvest it… The results would have been unimaginable!
How could such a terrifying thing exist in this world!?
“Now do you believe me?” Jasmine said with an extremely solemn expression on her face, “Once the Netherworld Udumbara Flower fully blooms, its soul stealing ability will be far more terrifying than you can imagine! It is definitely not something that a person from your plane can come into contact with!!”
Yun Che did not voice a reply to Jasmine, instead his head jerked upwards… Ahead of him, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign already stood in front of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. That gray-white face was spread wide by an arrogant, mocking grin. He greedily stared at those nine ghostly purple petals as he got drunk on the hellish aura that radiated from them. But he did not forget to cast a wanton, mocking grin in the fallen Yun Che’s direction, “Foolish and pathetic human being! To think that you even dared to dream of snatching the Netherworld Udumbara Flower from this king… hahahahaha…”
The wild laughter suddenly abated and the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s face twisted into a mask of fury while his voice grew thick with bone-grating rage and resentment, “It was you… who forced this king to transform, causing me to greatly harm my life origin as a result! Even if you lose your pathetic life ten thousand times, it would not be enough to assuage this king’s rage! After this king consumes this Netherworld Udumbara Flower… I will definitely allow you to experience all of the torture known to my devil race! I’ll leave you begging for death! I’ll make you forever regret being born into this world!!”
He turned his head back, his eyes completely focused on the nearby Netherworld Udumbara Flower. His previous violent fury immediately turned into ecstasy and agitation. He stretched out both his devil claws, covering them with black light as he slowly reached towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower… His movements were so slow and gentle that it looked like he was going to handle the most precious treasure he possessed in his life.
“Ssss—” Yun Che gritted his teeth so hard that they almost broke. Just thinking about the dreadfulness of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower left him drenched in cold sweat. So this short distance that laid between him and the flower had now become a natural chasm that he could not cross!
No! No matter what, he had to stop the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign…
The reason I risked it all to stay behind in this place was to obtain that Netherworld Udumbara Flower! If the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign consumes it, not only will it be extremely likely that it will be the only of one of its kind to exist in this world, the lives of Hong’er, Jasmine and I will be lost forever in this dark place!
So I have to stop it no matter what!
No matter what!!
Both of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s claws were touching the Netherworld Udumbara Flower as he prepared to slowly pluck it… Even though his movements were slow, his hands still trembled, his expression even contained a hint of fanaticism and devotion! As an ancient devil, he had never believed in any higher power. Nor was there any higher power worthy of his belief. But this Netherworld Udumbara Flower had become a sacred existence to him. Without it, he would have disintegrated into dust long ago! Moreover, it was only by relying on it that his soul origin could be fully recovered and he could see the light of day once more!
So every time he plucked it, he was exceedingly careful as he was afraid that he would hurt it. He had never fully absorbed all of the energy in this place, he would always ensure that enough of it remained so it could continue to nurture the Netherworld Udumbara Flower.
Black light wrapped around the nine petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. In the next instant, he would perfectly pluck all nine of these petals… But at this moment, an extremely dangerous aura assaulted him from behind.
Yun Che bounced to his feet as he summoned the Heaven Smiting Sword and his Profound Handle once more. He nearly raised all the profound energy in his body to its limit in one instant as his sword and the Profound Handle blazed with gold-colored Golden Crow flames. After that, he launched an explosive attack in front of him.
“Phoenix Sky Wolf Slash!”
Poof!!
Flowers of blood sprayed from his arms once more as the huge aftershock of his attack sent him tumbling fiercely backwards. The two images of a flaming Sky Wolf carried furiously vibrating spatial ripples as they exploded towards the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign!
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had never thought that Yun Che, who had clearly exhausted most of his profound energy, would still be able to launch such a ferocious attack. Furthermore, the two images of the Sky Wolf were moving at an exceedingly fast speed. Because the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had devoted all of his attention to the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, he had only detected those two attacks when they were barely ten meters away from him.
Bang!!!
Both burning images of the Sky Wolf viciously rammed into the back of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. He gave a strangled cry as the black-colored scales on his back immediately exploded. Black blood flew through the air as severely deformed bones. that had yet to break, were exposed. His entire devil body shot outwards like a cannon before fiercely smashing against a stone wall that was three hundred meters away. He slid to the ground in a slump, not getting up for a very long time.
“It… succeeded!!” Yun Che said as he propped himself up using his sword. His vision suddenly went black and he nearly toppled over. The Sky Wolf Slash that he had just performed had exceeded the limits of his strength through sheer force of will. Furthermore, he also had to use energy to activate his Profound Handle. The enormous amount of energy he had used caused his body to feel drawn and weak for a while and he could barely hold the Heaven Smiting Sword steady.
But before he even had time to draw a few breaths, his pupils suddenly contracted fiercely.
His recent attack had been cleverly designed to avoid any damage to the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign did not wish for any harm to come to it and neither did Yun Che. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was blown away but the stalk of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower was practically untouched. However, of the nine glowing purple lights which swayed above it…
Shockingly, only four petals were left!
Furthermore, at the end of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, five gloomy purple lights were glowing where the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign laid!!
“Crap!” Jasmine exclaimed, “When he was blasted away, he managed to grab five flower petals!!”
Before Jasmine’s voice had fallen, Yun Che shot towards the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign like an loosened arrow… He took a look at the Netherworld Udumbara Flower that he avoided before crazily racing towards where the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign laid.
“Bastard!!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign struggled to get up, his back arched in pain. He felt as if a hole had been blasted clear through his chest. But the moment he was sent flying, he had also managed to grab the five petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower that were already in his hands. If not for Yun Che blasting him away, all nine of the flower petals would have fallen into his hands.
When he looked at the onrushing Yun Che, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign grew so furious that he felt as if he would explode, “You damned bastard!! Your struggles will only increase the pain that you are about to experience!!!”
As he roared in fury, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign grabbed those five gloomy and ghostly petals and tossed them towards his open mouth.
Yun Che’s expression suddenly went white as he yelled in a hoarse voice, “Shut your mouth!!”
Gulp!!
It was a simple swallowing motion, something that Yun Che would not be in time to stop even if he was ten times faster. He could only watch as those five petals fell into that wide devil mouth. He could only helplessly witness the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign swallowing them in one gulp.
Yun Che, “!!!”
Chapter 785 - Desperate Gamble
Shit!!
As he saw the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign swallow the petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, Yun Che felt an intense chill wash over his entire body.
In the end, the worst case scenario had still presented itself in front of his very eyes.
Not only had he missed the chance to get the desired Netherworld Udumbara Flower, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s wounds and powers would be recovering soon as well! Furthermore, this place was a region that was sealed shut, so even the Primordial Profound Ark would not be able to teleport out of here. It also happened that Jasmine was not able to materialize in this place!
So right now, this could be said to be the most cruel and desperate situation Yun Che had ever been in before.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign who had swallowed the petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower threw his arms wide open in ecstasy as he shut his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower’s power spreading through his body. An extremely soothing and comfortable feeling spread through his entire body, even down to depths of his soul, causing all the aches and pains that afflicted him to practically disappear.
The dark energy in his body also seemed to be recovering quickly… Yun Che and the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign could both sense it clearly. At this moment, all the wounds on his body started to glow with a faint purple light. After that, the wounds began recovering at such an alarming speed that Yun Che was able to witness the flesh mending and knitting right before his very eyes.
“Hahahaha!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign laughed wildly. The moment he consumed the Netherworld Udumbara Flower was the moment of the greatest ecstasy for him. But this time, the feeling of ecstasy was far greater than it had ever been before. Once he thought of how Yun Che’s desperate struggles would only lead to despair in the end, his heart was seized by an intense joy, “Pathetic human! Let’s see how long you can struggle against this king this time around!”
“You will soon know the fate of those who have provoked and enraged this king! This king will let you experience the most dreadful purgatory in this world!”
“…” Yun Che’s whole body went cold as he sensed the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s aura begin to rise dramatically. His guts sank as he saw those wounds close before his very eyes but his mind still remained incredibly clear and focused despite the emotions washing over him…
The more desperate a situation got, the more clear-headed he would become!
Jasmine had said that given the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s current state, he would be able to recover most of his profound energy and be healed of most of his wounds within a mere hundred breaths! However, he had only consumed five flower petals rather than the entire flower, so it should take longer than that.
Even though being able to recover most of his energy and vitality just like that was truly astounding, in the end he still had one hundred breaths… So he would not be thrown into the pits of despair just yet!!
Furthermore, even though five petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower had been consumed… four petals still remained!
The power of the remaining four petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower… may just be enough to grant Jasmine a new life!! Even if they could not, it would definitely still be of great help.
Yun Che’s brows sank as his thoughts began to race… Right now, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was still seriously injured and he had used up most of his power as well. If he was able to kill him before he could recover with the Netherworld Udumbara Flower’s help, then…
No! There was no if! This was the only option left to him, the only hope he had left… Otherwise, he would definitely be dead meat once the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign recovered!!
However, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s aggregate power and current state was not far off from his own, given the fact that he also had a devil body… He had not even managed to critically injure him during their vicious battle that had lasted for hours! So trying to deliver a killing blow within the span of a few short breaths would be harder than reaching the heavens!
But the situation he was currently facing did not give Yun Che time to hesitate or consider. Because the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s strength continued to grow with each passing breath and his wounds continued to heal at a rapid pace!! This basically meant that each passing breath would cause the already miniscule spark of hope he had to constantly shrink! Perhaps after the next ten or twenty breaths, that already faint hope might disappear completely.
On the other hand, even if Yun Che had to think with his toes, he would be able to realize that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s following move would not be to engage him in combat. Rather, he would pour all his effort into shaking Yun Che off and rushing towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower! At that point, not only would the remaining four petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower fall into his devil hands… He was not even able to approach the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, so he could forget about struggling or hoping for victory!
Yun Che’s eyes widened as a resolute and vicious light radiated from within. Both his hands tightened fiercely around the hilt of the Heaven Smiting Sword. It was almost as if he wanted to embed it in his flesh… Now that he only had one option left to him, Yun Che tossed aside all thoughts of prices or aftermaths!
“Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign!!”
Yun Che roared in such a loud voice that it sounded like his throat would be torn apart. After a short pause, his speed explosively increased as he rushed towards the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign.
“Yun Che, you…”
Jasmine instantly realized what Yun Che was planning and she swallowed her words of warning before they even left her mouth… Because she knew that this was indeed the only option left to him.
He had not choice but to stake his very life on this gamble!
Even though it was extremely likely that he would explode on the spot, at least he could still grasp at that tiny sliver of hope!
“Evil God’s fourth realm, Rumbling Heaven!!”
Boom!!
An incredibly heavy rumbling sound resounded within Yun Che’s profound veins. All of his profound entrances were fully opened as the Evil God’s Profound Veins instantly swelled to twice their usual size… and they were coming close to rupturing!!
At the same time, a wild and frenzied energy wave exploded from his body as they shoved aside all the surrounding darkness energy! The dreadfulness of this energy wave caused the wildly laughing Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign to fly away as if he had been hit by a giant mallet. He flew through the air before smashing against one of the stone walls located in the very depths of the cave.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s laughter immediately grew strangled as he jerked his head upwards to look at Yun Che. The eyes that were filled with complacency and joy were now filled with an enormous dread…
The Yun Che who had been rushing at him had disappeared and what had taken his place was a man who was completely covered in blood, a blood person who was radiating a terrifying aura! Every single strand of his hair stood on end as flames burned around his body! And the profound energy that he was releasing was astonishingly dyed an eye-catching and alarming scarlet color! Both of his eyes seemed to have been dyed with blood as even the whites of his eyes had turned a bloody red!
Blood was spraying from his arms as countless alarming cracks started running through his skin, causing blood to spout from his body like a fountain. His entire body looked as if it had been stabbed thousands of times before it was dragged out of its own blood and one could scarcely see any part of his body that was left unharmed!
His appearance was so frightening that it would cause a normal person to pale in shock and fear but it definitely would not be able to faze the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. What frightened the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was the wild and berserk aura that was radiating from his body!!
If Yun Che’s aura could previously be described as a cluster of flames… then the blood man in front of him was releasing an aura that was akin to a violently erupting volcano from the depths of hell itself! It was so terrifying that all the nerves in the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s body convulsed as the soul that was being nourished by the Netherworld Udumbara Flower was instantly assaulted by an extreme sense of danger.
Furthermore, the blood man was holding a vermillion greatsword in his hand, that further proved that… this blood man was actually Yun Che!!
“You…” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign gasped as he pressed his back against the wall. He was not able to even croak out a chuckle anymore.
From the moment Yun Che had opened the “Rumbling Heaven” gate, his senses had been completely engulfed by unending pain. But at the same time, he could also feel an incomparably dreadful power exploding out of his body… Furthermore, this power far exceeded the limits of what his body could endure. He could clearly feel every part of his body rupturing the moment profound energy exploded from within his body… Even the world in front of him had turned blood red.
Besides that blood red color, he could not see anything else…
Only the spark of an unextinguishable will was still firmly locked onto the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s aura.
Raising arms that had nearly lost all feeling, he exhausted all of his will to barrel towards the area where the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s aura was located.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s pupils narrowed to pinpricks… One million years ago, this kind of power would’ve been so insignificant that he would not even deign to notice it. But for the current Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, it was a calamitous power that caused him to shake uncontrollably in fear.
He glanced at the purple light shining in the periphery of his vision. He wanted to rush to where the Netherworld Udumbara Flower was but every time he tried to move his devil body forward, he was forcefully pushed back by the terrifying aura that was rushing towards him. It was as if his back had been nailed to the wall behind him. Right now, he could barely even raise his leg, much less try to rush forward. It was as if every part of his body was being pressed down by an enormous mountain.
The vermillion sword beam grew nearer and nearer and the fear in the Moon Devil Sovereign’s eyes grew commensurately. He gave a great roar as all the power in his body surged forth desperately. He formed a jet-black vortex of energy that was ten thousand times darker than the deepest abyss and sent it flying towards Yun Che with a yell.
The moment that jet-black vortex exploded outwards, the Heaven Smiting Sword which carried the power of the “Rumbling Heaven” gate whistled downwards. Instantly, the jet-black vortex that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had formed with all his remaining energy came to a sudden stop. After that, it began to be suppressed, devoured and swallowed up by that vermillion sword beam… until it completely disappeared.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s vision was covered by boundless vermillion light, a copious amount of blood spraying into air as he bore the brunt of that catastrophic explosion. An earth-shaking rumble shook the entire Moon Slaughter Devil Nest as a howl laced with despair and pain rang throughout every corner…
Booom—
“UUUUWWWAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!”
Jet-black stone walls crumbled away rapidly as countless stone fragments fell to the ground. The entire Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was shaking and it seemed as if the heavens and the earth themselves were shaking along with it. Destructive winds blew throughout the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest as they collided and slammed into everything around them, destroying whatever they could destroy. Furthermore, the deepest part of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest had been completely filled by fiercely burning dull golden flames as a catastrophic storm raged about wantonly for ages…
This was the first time Yun Che had ever opened the “Rumbling Heaven” gate, so this was also the first sword slash that he had ever performed while the “Rumbling Heaven” gate was open. Jasmine was still unaware of the result of this sword slash. But what she could definitively confirm was that the current Yun Che was completely incapable of enduring the power unleashed by the “Rumbling Heaven” gate! Yun Che forcefully opened the “Rumbling Heaven” gate and his profound energy instantly went berserk, Jasmine could clearly see all of his internal organs rupturing as his veins snapped and blood flowed freely from his body. The only things that remained unbroken were his bones that were reinforced by the Dragon God Marrow.
It was only for that one instant… But every single second after that would cause the situation to worsen by many times!!
Perhaps it would only need two breaths for Yun Che’s body to explode and he definitely would not leave a whole body behind.
Given the dire straits that they were in, Jasmine could not afford to hesitate anymore. The moment Yun Che used all of his willpower to launch that blow with his sword, Jasmine’s soul body left the Sky Poison Pearl and entered Yun Che’s body. Four scarlet profound energy beams shot out at extreme speed as they pierced all of Yun Che’s internal organs and entered his profound veins. The four beams of light unerringly pressed on the four open Evil God Gates.
Jasmine’s power was so tyrannical that the instant those scarlet lights disappeared, the four open Evil God Gates had closed as well. The berserking profound energy immediately began to fade away. Jasmine breathed a small sigh of relief before she hurriedly entered the Sky Poison Pearl.
Her soul form was deathly afraid of the devil energy within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. Since Yun Che had been within the very depths of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest itself, it was natural that a small portion of that devil energy had seeped into his body. Even though Jasmine had only dwelt inside Yun Che’s body for a brief moment, she felt an exceedingly unbearable feeling spread through her body the moment she re-entered the Sky Poison Pearl.
Jasmine swiftly went into meditation and a long time passed before that unbearable feeling finally disappeared.
She opened her eyes once more as she took a look at the world outside.
Chapter 786 - Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer
The fires continued to burn but they had grown much smaller than before. The wild windstorm and the constant shaking of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest had also come to a stop. Yun Che lay limply on the ground, the muscles of his blood-drenched body spasming and twitching. Every now and then, hoarse moans could be heard from his mouth… proving not only that he was still alive but also that he still retained some semblance of consciousness.
“Yun Che, don’t even try to stand up. Immediately focus on activating the Great Way of the Buddha instead!” Jasmine quickly commanded him.
Jasmine’s voice caused the shuddering in Yun Che’s body to lessen. He no longer tried to struggle. Instead, he closed his eyes and devoted all his remaining strength to activating the Great Way of the Buddha. He could see through blurry eyes that his body was completely covered in blood, yet he did not feel the slightest bit of pain… it was as if his entire body did not belong to him anymore.
At the very end of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, more than ten paces to the right of Yun Che, several small clusters of flame still continued to burn. Astonishingly, the thing that had been set aflame was the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s devil body.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s left arm and both his legs had been severed from his body, lying strewn across the floor in scattered pieces. What remained was only his right arm which could barely be considered intact. Furthermore, his entire body had been completely shattered. It was as if he was mud that had been trampled over by an entire battalion of soldiers. And even this “mud” was still slowly being burned up and consumed by the Golden Crow flames.
“…This king… actually…”
The fingers on his right arm were trembling and a voice that sounded as rough as sandpaper came from the immobilized head of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign.
That voice caused Yun Che’s body to twitch. After that, he began to struggle furiously to get up. It was then that Jasmine’s low voice rang out, “Don’t worry about him, he’s already been smashed to bits and pieces by you. The reason why he can still speak is because he is using the very last bit of his devil energy. He will very soon be even deader than dead.”
“…” Yun Che’s eyelids cracked open as his expression grew more relaxed. His lips curved slightly into a faint smile before he spoke with great difficulty, “Jasmine… thank you, if not for you…”
“Hmph! If not for me, you would have died an even uglier death than him!” Jasmine said huffily. But this time, she did not scold Yun Che for forcing open the “Rumbling Heaven” gate. Because it was really the only option left to him, the only hope that he could grasp at… and in the end, fate once again stood at Yun Che’s side.
His wounds were very heavy and another practitioner would have died a hundred times over. Still, these injuries were insufficient to condemn him to death and could be recovered from in a fairly short period of time..
“Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, do you have any words to leave behind!?” Jasmine asked in a cold voice.
“Cough…” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign droned on in a voice filled with pain and despair, “Even the Evil God’s… seal… which lasted for a million years… was not able to kill this king… Yet this king… actually… died… at the hands of… a pathetic human…”
“Hmph! Even though the million year seal of the Evil God was not enough to kill you, in the end, you still die because of his power! It looks like no matter how hard you struggled, even though your struggles lasted for a million years, you were ultimately still unable to escape your fate of dying by the Evil God’s hand!”
Jasmine’s cold voice was somber. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s impending death caused her to breathe a large sigh of relief but her heart still held a gloominess that would not be easily dispelled… If they had not entered this place for the sake of finding the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, if Yun Che’s peculiar characteristic of courting disaster had not acted up again and convinced him to stay behind, they would not have known that this place was actually hiding a devil from ancient times.
She was unable to imagine the horrific outcome that would have occurred if the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had continued to hide in this place until the day he completely recovered the strength he had during his peak.
Yun Che’s all-or-nothing gamble to kill the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was for the sake of preserving his own life and obtaining the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. But in the end, he had still killed a devil! Perhaps no one in this universe would ever know about it but he had eradicated a giant calamity that would have engulfed countless of worlds in the future.
“Evil… God…” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign mumbled before he began to laugh hoarsely, “Ha… haha… ha… Do you… really think that the… Evil God… was truly… a god…”
“What? If the Evil God wasn’t a god, then could he have been a human or a devil instead!?” Jasmine said with a cold and mocking laugh, “Even though you are at death’s door, you’re still a devil who has lived for over a million years. But the only thing you want to say before you die is this pile of hilarious rubbish?”
“Heh… hehehe…” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign continued to chuckle but his laughter sounded rather bizarre. At this moment, his remaining arm trembled in the air as it slowly lifted up off the ground. The remaining devil claws began to stretch out wide as they started to emit a weak and faint black light.
“…!” Jasmine’s heart suddenly tightened with anxiety… Could it be that he still had some strength left!?
But she immediately relaxed once more. Even though Yun Che’s wounds were extremely heavy right now and he did not possess the ability to resist, he still had the protection of the Dragon God’s bloodline and the Great Way of the Buddha. Even if the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign could release one final beam of devil energy, it would still not be enough to kill Yun Che.
At most, it would merely inflict another wound on Yun Che’s broken body.
A jet-black orb that was around the size of a dragon’s eye appeared in the middle of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s hand which was wrapped in black light. His devil claws began to tremble as he spoke in a hoarse voice filled with resentment, “Pathetic human being… who has also inherited the power of the Evil God… this king… will sacrifice his devil orb… in order to consign you to eternal… damnation!!
All of the remaining power in his broken body was gathered up in that trembling arm as he threw something forward… The jet-black devil orb flew through the darkness before coming into contact with Yun Che and directly burying itself inside of his body.
This sudden and bizarre occurence sent a jolt of alarm through Jasmine’s heart and she spoke in a low voice, “What was that!? What did you throw at him?!”
“Ha… hahahaha… HAHAHAHAHA…” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign began to laugh wildly and his hoarse laughter was laced with pain, sorrow… and a warped and twisted joy.
“UWAAAAAAAHHHHH!!
At this moment, a pain-filled moan suddenly came from Yun Che’s mouth as his blood-covered body was suddenly covered in a weak and hazy black light… Furthermore, the aura that this light was releasing was shockingly a dark devil energy!
“!!” Jasmine could not care less about the risk as her soul body swiftly left the Sky Poison Pearl and entered Yun Che’s body once more. Her senses remained locked onto the jet-black orb that had entered entered Yun Che’s body. To her shock, she discovered that it had actually buried itself into Yun Che’s profound veins. It released a layer of black light as it sheathed his profound veins in a faint black glow.
Jasmine stretched out a hand, intending to use her power to eradicate it… But the moment her finger stretched out, her heart and soul were shaken fiercely and her face went white with shock.
The devil aura radiating from this dark orb was not strong; it could even be said to be incredibly weak. It would not even be able to swiftly kill the current Yun Che who was in an incredibly weak state. But the level of this devil aura was terrifyingly high!
This was far beyond the scope of her knowledge and experience!
Suddenly, Jasmine remembered that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had mumbled the two words “devil orb” right before he had thrown out this black orb…
Could it be that this was actually the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s devil origin orb!?
Was this the devil origin orb that the records stated sustained an ancient devil’s life origin, soul origin and origin of darkness!?
An item on the level of the devils!!
Jasmine’s tiny hand faintly trembled… No, she could not do it!! If this was truly a devil origin orb as recorded in the annals of history, even if its power was extremely weak, it was still not something that she could destroy! Moreover, it appeared to have actually forcefully merged with Yun Che’s Evil God’s Profound Veins… Even if she was able to remove it by force, it was extremely likely that she was cause severe damage to Yun Che’s profound veins in the process!
What was going on!? These were the Evil God’s Profound Veins that we are talking about, how could a devil origin orb merge with them so easily? Could it be because the level of the devil origin orb was so high while the level of Yun Che’s profound energy was too low, causing his profound veins to be unable to resist it?
Jasmine’s expression kept changing as she struggled with her thoughts. Finally, she stretched out her hand once more as a scarlet colored profound energy surged forth. She reduced its power again and again… She repeated this process more than ten times before finally pushing it into Yun Che’s profound veins. After that, she carefully wrapped her profound energy around that jet-black orb.
Immediately, the jet-black light was completely engulfed and covered by that bloody light and the originally weak devil energy completely vanished as well… It had been thoroughly sealed away by Jasmine’s powers.
Jasmine let her arm drop as she swiftly returned to the Sky Poison Pearl… Sealing away this thing that was most likely a devil origin orb was the only option she could think of at the moment. But in order to avoid harming Yun Che’s profound veins, she did not dare to use too much power. So that seal would not last for very long. From today onwards, she would have to renew that seal from time to time.
“Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign…” Yun Che could feel the intense changes that his body and profound veins were undergoing as he hoarsely gasped through gritted teeth, “What did… you do to me!?”
“This king… has given to you… a great boon… that you would never be able to obtain… even if you wished for it… ha… haha… kuh…” A spurt of black blood sprayed from the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s mouth, carrying away the greater part of his life with it.
“You…” Yun Che growled through tightly gritted teeth but he was still unable to stand up.
“Don’t worry, I have already sealed it away.” Jasmine said coldly, Even though she had told Yun Che “not to worry”, her heart was exceptionally heavy. Because now that a devil origin orb had merged with the Evil God’s Profound Veins, perhaps… it may one day cause a bizarre change that no one would be able to predict or anticipate.
Things that were on the level of the devils were things that not even Jasmine was able to control or anticipate.
“Heh…” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s body no longer moved and his voice had grown so faint that it was as soft as the buzzing of an insect, “You… pathetic… and stupid… human beings… Do all of you really think that our devil race… has been destroyed completely…?”
“That which… was… banished… will surely… one… day…”
The final traces of black light within the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s eyes completely disappeared.
This was the king of the Eternal Night Devil Clan, a devil who had escaped the calamity that had afflicted the gods and the devils during ancient times, a devil who had escaped the million year seal of the Evil God. But in the end, he had died at the hands of a human being and he would forever lie in the eternal darkness of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.
Chapter 787 - Taking the Netherworld Udumbara by Force
“Is he… dead?” Yun Che asked with much difficulty.
“He’s dead!” His devil soul has dispersed and before long, the Golden Crow flames will completely burn his body to ashes as well.” Jasmine said as she sighed silently in her heart, “But don’t let anything distract you right now, you need to devote all your energy to healing your wounds! The injuries you sustained are really too serious this time around and even if it is you, if you let them linger on a while more, you might lose your life at any moment.”
Yun Che did not speak any further. Instead he focused on adjusting his current state and mindset until he could attain proper focus. After that, he swiftly cleared away any thoughts that would distract him before he focused on circulating the Great Way of the Buddha… He knew that Jasmine’s words were not the least bit exaggerated. Even when he was in the Primordial Profound Ark, he had never been so seriously injured to the point where he lost all sensation of pain.
This time, his internal and external injuries were incredibly serious and within the entire Profound Sky Continent, the only person who could sustain such injuries and still live was Yun Che alone. This coupled with the fact that he had nearly run out of profound energy meant that it would require a rather long period of time before he could make a full recovery.
Because of his heavy injuries, Yun Che’s ability to concentrate was also greatly affected. A full seven minutes passed before that dim golden pagoda gradually appeared over his head. After that, the energy of heaven and earth that surged into his body began to get denser and denser.
At the end of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, the broken corpse of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had finally been incinerated by the Golden Crow flames. The devil body, that was bereft of the power of the devil god, could not escape the fate of being burned to cinders… However, the clouds of black ash were dimly illuminated by streaks of bizarre black light.
Behind the body lay the wall at the very end of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. Most of the impact from the sword strike that Yun Che had launched at the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, after he opened the “Rumbling Heaven” gate, had been absorbed by this pitch-black wall. However, the attack that had enough power to destroy the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had not caused this wall to collapse. It had only left behind many long and narrow cracks along its surface.
Threads of abnormal black energy were quietly seeping from those cracks. It was just that there was no way anyone would be able to see it with their naked eyes in this absolute darkness.
“Heeheeheehee… Kekekehahahaha… Huhuhuhu… Wahahahaha…”
Now that the dust had finally settled, one could clearly hear the sinister wailing laughter that continued to echo within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. The Netherworld Udumbara Flower still gently swayed despite the absence of wind but only four petals remained and whether it was the ghostly wail or the gloomy purple light, both of them had grown far weaker than before.
——————————————
Blue Wind Nation. Snow Region of Extreme Ice
Dongfang Xiu had been going north all this while, traveling through day and night and barely even stopping to catch his breath. Given his cultivation, which was at the initial stages of the Emperor Profound Realm, he had barely made it from Blue Wind Imperial City to Frozen Cloud Asgard within twenty hours.
By the time he had reached Frozen Cloud Asgard and conveyed the message he was supposed to deliver, Dongfang Xiu had exhausted all his profound energy. He fell headfirst into the snow and he could barely force himself up after half a day of rest.
“Palace Chief Dongfang, do not worry. Asgard Master has the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul with him, even if the distance is one hundred and fifty thousand kilometers away, he will still be able to receive our sound transmissions.”
The news of Xiao Yun’s disappearance deeply shocked the disciples of Frozen Cloud Asgard. Yun Che had personally told them that Xiao Yun was his sworn brother and a few months ago, he had even brought Xiao Yun to Frozen Cloud Asgard to assist him in scaring off Sun Moon Divine Hall.
Murong Qianxue and the others did not have time to arrange for a place for Dongfang Xiu to rest. The six of them combined their powers and swiftly constructed the sound transmission profound formation that was unique to Frozen Cloud Asgard. Borrowing the power of the profound formation, they would definitely be able to send a sound transmission to Yun Che, who possessed the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul, as long as he was still on the Profound Sky Continent.
After they had constructed the sound transmission profound formation, Murong Qianxue entered the center of the profound formation and focused on sending a sound transmission to Yun Che. Immediately after that, her eyes blinked open as a look of shock and alarm spread across her face.
“Senior Sister, what happened?” Mu Lanyi asked in a worried voice.
“I can’t get through, we are unable to send out the sound transmission.” Murong Qianxue replied, shaking her head gravely as her crescent brows knitted together in confusion.
“How could it be?” Feng Hanyue asked anxiously, “Asgard Master has the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul, so how is it possible that he isn’t able to receive our sound transmission. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Unless… unless Asgard Master has expelled the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul from his body.”
“Ah!” Feng Hanxue cried in shock as her beautiful eyes immediately grew misty with emotion, “Could it be… could it be that Asgard Master doesn’t want us anymore…?”
“Stop spouting nonsense.” Jun Lianqie immediately exclaimed, “Asgard Master is a man who values relationships the most in this world! There is no way he would suddenly abandon our Frozen Cloud Asgard. If he truly expelled the the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul from his body, the six of us should be able to sense it. My guess is that because Supreme Ocean Palace is located in the ocean that is one thousand five hundred kilometers to the south of the southernmost part of the Profound Sky Continent, it might be located outside the boundaries of the Profound Sky Continent. So Asgard Master would not be able to receive our sound transmission. There is another possibility… That place is, in the end, still a Sacred Ground, so it should be covered by an a powerful protective barrier and that barrier might also block out sound transmissions.”
“Another possibility I can think of is that Asgard Master is currently within the ‘Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’ that he had mentioned many times before.” Chu Yueli continued after Jun Lianqie, “Asgard Master has told us this twice before, the main objective behind his trip to Supreme Ocean Palace is to enter the ‘Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’ to look for something. Furthermore, that ‘Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’ is the greatest forbidden ground in the entire Supreme Ocean Palace, so it is definitely covered by an extremely strong isolation barrier. Not being able to send a sound transmission to him is extremely normal in such circumstances.”
“In short, let’s not play wild guessing games with each other.” Murong Qianxue said as she strode out of the profound barrier. She turned to Dongfang Xiu before she continued, “Palace Chief Dongfang, please rest here for the time being, you can send a sound transmission to Empress Cang Yue to update her on the current situation. There is definitely a reason that we cannot send a sound transmission to Asgard Master but there is no need to get too anxious. After that, we will attempt to send a sound transmission every two hours and I believe that Asgard Master will reply us before too long.”
“If that is the case… then we will have to trouble you fairies regarding this.” Dongfang Xiu said in an extremely exhausted voice.
Murong Qianxue and the others did as they said they would. They would reconstruct that profound formation and attempt to send a sound transmission once every two hours. Each time they performed the task, they intentionally increased the amount of profound strength they used…
But the days passed and there was still no reply from Yun Che.
At this point, even the ladies of Frozen Cloud Asgard began to panic.
Even though none of them said it out loud, every single one of them had a bad feeling that… it was not only Xiao Yun that was in trouble right now. It seemed very likely that something had happened to Yun Che as well.
——————————————————
Within the dark and silent world, Yun Che, who had sat quietly for an unknown period of time, suddenly opened his eyes as he asked in a strained and urgent voice, “How long was I in a trance for!?”
“More than forty hours.” Jasmine coolly replied.
“What!?” Yun Che shouted in shock as he jumped to his feet. That sudden action immediately tore open all the wounds in his body, causing his face to twist in pain as he uttered a low moan.
Yun Che could completely recover from normal injuries in two days time, even if they were considered heavy injuries for a normal person but this time, things were different. Not only had he sustained grievous external and internal injuries, he had even damaged his foundation. So even though he had been quietly recovering from his injuries for more than forty hours, only half of his injuries had healed and he had also only recovered about fifty percent of his profound strength.
“Why? Are you afraid that you won’t make it in time for the Devil Sword Conference?” Jasmine said as she gave cold snort, “Hmph! You haven’t even completely recovered yet and you still have to think about how you’re going to break out of this place! So attending the Devil Sword Conference should be the last thing on your mind.”
“No! It’s not that!” Yun Che said as he swiftly turned around.
Those four points of gloomy purple light continued to slowly sway three hundred meters from where Yun Che was. The moment he looked over at them, he could hear that sinister, soul-piercing, ghostly wail ring out.
Besides the fact that it was missing petals, the Netherworld Udumbara Flower was exactly how Yun Che saw it initially. Even the four petals that remained still continued to shimmer with that purple light, it did not look like it had started to rot or decay in the least.
Even from three hundred meters away, the moment Yun Che laid his eyes on it, he could clearly feel its touch on his soul.
“This is great.” Yun Che said as he let out a long sigh of relief, “Master told me the Netherworld Udumbara Flower would only bloom for three days and once those three days were up, it would wilt instantly.”
“Even though it’s only been two days since it bloomed, it still lost five of its flower petals. So its strength would have greatly weakened. Given my knowledge of these rare plants and spirit medicines, I believe it will definitely wilt earlier than the recorded three days because of it! So we are truly fortunate that all four of the remaining petals are still in perfect condition!”
Yun Che could not help feeling antsy right now. In order to concentrate on recovering from his injuries, he had sealed all of his senses. He knew that the moment he slipped into a trance he would lose all sense of time, so he ensured that a part of his will remained to prevent him from being in a trance for too long a period of time. It was just that his wounds were really too serious, so his will had become extremely weak and the bit of will that he had held in anticipation of this event very swiftly dissipated as well… The moment he came to, he instantly thought of how long the Netherworld Udumbara Flower would stay in full bloom and he grew so anxious that cold sweat nearly drenched his entire body.
It was truly fortunate that all four of the remaining petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower had remained intact.
But at the same time, he was perfectly clear about one thing—If it was a complete and unharmed Netherworld Udumbara Flower, it would still be a full day away from wilting.
A Netherworld Udumbara Flower that had only four petals remaining would definitely remain in full bloom for a shorter period of time, it definitely would not last for three full days! If two days had already passed since it fully bloomed… then it was extremely likely that it would wilt any second now!
“You want forcefully retrieve that Netherworld Udumbara?” Jasmine said as her delicate brows slanted downwards. After that, she immediately barked out a rebuke, “Are you insane!? Have you so quickly forgotten about how terrifying the Netherworld Udumbara Flower is!? What’s more, right now you’re injured all over and you only have half your usual profound strength. So even thinking of getting within one hundred meters of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower will already be harder than scaling the heavens, much less actually plucking it! Forcing your way close to it will also likely result in it stealing your soul and you will become the living dead!”
Yun Che breathed a long sigh before he said in an extremely resolute voice, “I am well aware of how terrifying the Netherworld Udumbara Flower is! But do not forget the reason why I stayed behind in the first place! This even resulted in meeting one Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign who very nearly buried me in this place!”
“What Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign? What ancient devil? What universal calamity… I don’t really give a crap about any of those things! The only thing I stayed behind to do was to obtain this Netherworld Udumbara Flower! Furthermore, I have exhausted so much strength and braved so much danger that I very nearly threw my life away, all so that I could protect this Netherworld Udumbara Flower that only has four petals left! If we do not manage to retrieve it, how do you expect me to be satisfied!?”
Yun Che had already started to gnash his teeth as he finished his rant. Ever since he had entered the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, his encounters had far exceeded his expectations. Given his personality, having already reached this point, he would definitely not allow himself to leave empty-handed, regardless of the risks or how difficult the task was.
Jasmine replied in a very grave voice, “Hmph, I know that the thing you love to do the most is to gamble with your life. But you should still retain some self-awareness at the very least! Two days ago, you personally experienced the might of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower—and it was when you were still very far away from it! Right now, your wounds haven’t even healed, yet it seems like you’ve completely forgotten what it means to feel pain!”
“Jasmine, tell me this one thing.” Yun Che said in a very calm voice, “Is an incomplete Netherworld Udumbara with only four remaining petals enough to create a new body for you?”
“…No! Of course not!” After a short pause, Jasmine vehemently denied him, “An incomplete Netherworld Udumbara Flower and a complete one are worlds apart! If I want my body and soul to be perfectly united when this new body of mine is created, I definitely need a complete and perfect Netherworld Udumbara Flower! Even if it was missing just one flower petal, it would not be of any use, much less a Netherworld Udumbara Flower that is missing five! So even if you decide to gamble your life and you really succeed in obtaining it, it will all be for nothing!”
“Besides, you won’t even be able to live to tell the tale if you do try to attempt it!”
Jasmine’s words did not move Yun Che in the slightest. On the contrary, they caused Yun Che to focus even more intensely on the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, “You’re lying to me!”
“…Lying to you!?” Jasmine’s voice became cold, “So now, you don’t believe even my words?”
“No.” Yun Che lightly shook his head, “Jasmine, you are the person that I trust the most in this world. As long as it is something that you’ve said, no matter how unreasonable or outrageous those words may be, I will not doubt them in the least. Unless… it was the words that you just said.”
Jasmine, “You…”
“Jasmine…” Yun Che’s voice became exceptionally soft and gentle, “The year that we met, I was sixteen and you were thirteen. You helped me rebuild a set of profound veins, took me as your student and even used your foot to step on my head to force me to kowtow to you… After that, we have been together every day and night, every hour and every moment. We can even clearly feel each other’s existence with every breath that we take. And now, it has already been more than seven years since we met.”
“You… what are you trying to say?” Yun Che’s words caused Jasmine’s voice to turn funny.
“What I’m trying to say is that we have spent seven years completely tangled together. The time that I have spent with you is longer than the time that you have spent with your parents, longer than the time that you have spent with your precious big brother, longer than the time you have spent with any person in this world. So, I know you better than anyone else does—just like how you know me better than anyone else as well.”
Jasmine, “…”
“So right now, I could tell instantly whether you were lying or not. What’s more, you don’t even like to lie in the first place, so you’re really not used to it. Normally, if you want to hide something from me, you’ll simply seal your lips and refuse to speak a word more and you will also deliberately make it known to me that you don’t want to continue. Other than the time you ‘sealed your own profound strength’, you have never even tried to deceive or lie to me!”
“That is also why your claim that you had ‘sealed your own profound strength’ deceived me for such a long time. It was the only time that you had ever lied to me before this! Just now was the second time you tried to lie to me! But I am no longer the person I was five years ago, so I won’t fall for your trick this time. No matter what…”
“No matter what, you definitely want to forcefully obtain those four petals, right!?” Jasmine’s voice had undergone a faint change, it was as if some complex emotion had been layered into it. “Fine… I was indeed lying to you just now! But it wasn’t a complete lie! Even though a Netherworld Udumbara Flower with only four petals remaining would be able to merge my body and soul together, it would not be able to perfectly merge the two! So in the end, it would only stay in effect for twenty to thirty years!”
“…What will happen after twenty to thirty years have passed?” Yun Che asked in a stunned voice.
“It is highly likely that my body and soul would reject each other and I would have no choice but to resume my current form! Hmph, I won’t be so stupid as to endure the same kind of pain as Fen Juechen.”
“So that’s how it is!” Yun Che said as he nodded heavily, “This also means that it will grant you at least twenty years of independence and absolute freedom. After that, the worst case scenario is that you would return to your current state.”
“Then we definitely need to obtain this four petal Netherworld Udumbara Flower!!”
“You!!” Jasmine snapped as her temper boiled over. She gritted her teeth within the Sky Poison Pearl as she said angrily, “You’re really someone who won’t weep until you are one foot in the coffin! Since that is the case, then go ahead and try! Go harvest that four petal Netherworld Udumbara Flower! Let me see where you’re getting that confidence from!”
Chapter 788 - My Jasmine (1)
Yun Che casually inspected his injuries before focusing his mind and striding towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower.
Those four petals released an extremely bizarre and fantastical purple light. Once Yun Che was within one hundred and fifty meters of it, he could clearly feel his soul being pulled in by formless hands. Yun Che ground to a stop, sucking in a deep breath of air before he spoke in a calm voice, “Jasmine, don’t you worry. I’m not silly as to die because I overestimated my own strength. Besides, my life is still linked with yours. The reason my soul was nearly stolen by the Netherworld Udumbara Flower the first time around was because I had not experienced its true terror yet, so I didn’t prepare myself well enough.”
“However, right now, I roughly know the method it uses to steal one’s soul. This coupled with the fact that it only has four petals left makes the prospect of facing it much less terrifying than before. If I pour all my effort and strength into this attempt, it isn’t guaranteed that I will fail. I also have the Sky Poison Pearl with me, so as long as I can get near it, harvesting it won’t be a problem at all.”
“If the final result ends in complete and utter failure and I see no hope of succeeding, then I will give up.”
“Hmph!” Jasmine sniffed angrily as she replied, “Anyways, I can’t stop you no matter what I say, so I can’t be bothered with you anymore! When you are being tormented to the point where you start begging for death later, don’t blame me for not giving you ample warning!”
“I get it.”
Both of Yun Che’s hands slowly tightened into fists as his brows knit together tightly… In this lifetime, he was convinced that he would never be able to forget just how terrifying the soul stealing ability of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower was. Now that he thought about it again, his entire soul started to shudder uncontrollably as a intense dread was birthed in his heart.
If the thing placed in front of him was something else, even if it was a legendary treasure, a peerless profound artifact or even a mountain of Divine Crystals, he would turn around without a hint of hesitation and leave without even taking another look… because he was definitely not willing to ever experience the pain of his soul being taken from him again.
But what was in front of him was the Netherworld Udumbara Flower… The only Netherworld Udumbara Flower in this world.
“I will definitely succeed!”
“Hah!!”
Yun Che murmured before expelling an explosive shout. His entire body started burning with flames as he rose into the air, rushing with full force towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower.
The first time he had approached the Netherworld Udumbara Flower and was affected by its soul stealing ability, all of the power in his body instantly dissipated… So this time, he wanted to see if he could use extreme speed to reach the Netherworld Udumbara Flower in an instant.
Ding…
The hellish purple radiance before him expanded and the world suddenly fell completely silent. After that, innumerable icy needles crazily pierced his soul while countless dark hands emerged from the depths of the abyss to tear apart every corner of his soul…
Bang!!
Yun Che was thrown to the ground as he fell from the sky in a heap. All the flames on his body had been completely extinguished. His soul was being twisted and rent and the enormous pain that accompanied it caused his internal organs, limbs and the rest of his body to spasm uncontrollably. Every single hair and cell of his body was twisting and shivering in pain.
He gritted his teeth with all his might, forcefully keeping his cries of pain inside. Under that immense pain, his vision had become blurry but he could still see that bizarrely beautiful purple light clearly. It was roughly fifty meters distant from him.
It was also this purple light which allowed him to doggedly keep his nearly fractured psyche in one piece. He forced himself to his feet and tried to stagger towards the purple light. But right after he had taken a single step in that direction…
It was just one single step closer to the flower… yet in an instant, the thousand needles that had been stabbing at his soul turned into ten thousand blades…
When he had spent half his life delivering the killing blow to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, leaving his body in tatters, he had not even given voice to a single whimper of pain. But right now, Yun Che was letting out a blood-curdling scream. Just drawing one step closer was like walking through hell and finding another hell inside hell itself. He could feel both his body and soul being rent into tiny bits and pieces. This pain far exceeded any pain that Yun Che had ever known before, it even exceeded Yun Che’s very understanding of pain itself!
Furthermore, this intense pain also gave birth to a frantically blooming terror!
Fear and dread instantly swallowed up all of Yun Che’s remaining will and bravery. His contorted body reacted by itself as it tumbled backwards.
The sensation of his soul being sliced apart and the mind-warping pain dramatically lessened with every inch he retreated. Once his mind had cleared, he naturally regained control over his power and body. Yun Che continued to stagger backwards, stumbling on the ground as he went. He finally stopped when he reached a distance where he could endure the pain. Both of his knees sank to the ground as he used his arms to prop himself up. He gasped heavily for breath and sweat poured down his forehead in torrents. In the blink of an eye, the ground beneath his head had become completely drenched.
“Haah… Haah… Haah…”
His body continued to spasm uncontrollably for more than ten breaths as he took in great gulps of air. At this point, Yun Che felt as if he had endured the cruellest torture in the entire world… No! This pain was far more dreadful than any torture he could ever imagine.
He turned his head, raising his pasty-white face to look towards the position that he had reached previously. That spot was only about forty five meters away from the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. He could sense that that distance was the limit of what he could endure. If he tried to move forward, even if it was a single tiny step… he would be unable to endure the pain from that point on.
He was also unable to imagine what kind of terrible hell awaited him if he continued to take yet another step forward. He could also scarcely imagine what kind of horrific world awaited him when he was within a single step of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower.
Forty five meters… To him, that normally would be a pitifully short distance.
But in this place, it seemed even farther and more despair-inducing than a gap that spanned millions of kilometers.
One step was a step into an abyss…. One step was clearing a natural chasm!
“Are you… alright?” Jasmine asked in a voice laced with worry. But the moment she noticed the worry in her voice, she immediately turned frosty, “Hmph! This is the result of you overestimating your own strength! I will say this once more! The Netherworld Udumbara Flower isn’t something a person from your plane can get close to! As for that soul-stealing pain, you have now experienced it a second time! To be honest, the fact that you haven’t collapsed is commendable in and of itself! Because this kind of pain, even if it is I… even if it is a god from the legends, it would still be very hard to bear! Much less someone like you!”
By the time Jasmine had finished speaking, Yun Che had gotten to his feet once more. After that he turned around and faced the Netherworld Udumbara Flower yet again. But this time, the unwavering determination in his eyes had long since disappeared and a thick fear had replaced it instead.
In the past few years, Yun Che had not feared anything—whether it was unbearable might, the approach of death, or a natural force that he could not resist…
This was the first time he had ever experienced fear due to “pain.”
Crack!
He squeezed his left hand so hard that he had cracked the bones on two of his fingers… but his pale face did not even flinch. Because it was not even an ant bite when compared to the pain he had experienced when his soul was being stolen.
His feet started moving as he began to walk towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower yet again.
“What are you doing?” His actions shocked Jasmine. She knew very clearly what kind of pain Yun Che had just endured and she had also felt the dread that it had brought to him. So she had thought that Yun Che would never even try to approach the Netherworld Udumbara Flower ever again… and perhaps, he might not even dare to glance at it anymore but he was actually… trying to approach it yet again!
“I still… haven’t… failed yet!!” Yun Che said huskily. But the words that he had spat still quivered due to his remaining fear.
“You… Have you really not given up!? Will you truly only weep once you’ve seen your own grave!?” Jasmine shouted angrily.
“This Netherworld Udumbara Flower… it’s right in front of me! It’s only a short sixty meters away right now! If I lost all heart to continue due to this small obstacle, then where… will I find the face to see you next time!?”
“Me!?” Jasmine yelled in surprise, “…What small obstacle!? How in this world is that a small obstacle to you!? The pain your body is feeling will seep into your soul and the pain of the soul is not something that mere physical pain can compare to.” Jasmine had felt true soul searing pain once in her life before. It was when she inherited the profound strength legacy of the Heaven Slaughter Star God. So she had a very clear understanding about this kind of pain! Even someone as powerful as her would tremble in fear every time she remembered that experience. And to this day, she still would not have to courage to go through that experience a second time!
But for the sake of an incomplete Netherworld Udumbara Flower, Yun Che was willing to face that pain for a third time!!
Yun Che did not wait for Jasmine’s response. With a loud roar, he rushed towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower again while Jasmine was still stunned.
Forty five meters…
This distance proved to be the bottleneck yet again. Once more, Yun Che felt all of the strength in his body dissipating as he fell to the ground in pain. He forcefully opened his eyes so wide that they seemed like they would explode and he bit down so hard that his teeth nearly broke as he bounded a huge step forward.
“UWAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!”
A soul-rending cry of pain resounded through every corner of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. It was so shrill and sharp that even the pebbles on the ground started to tremble. This instant of soul searing pain was something that Yun Che could not even describe with words and the terrifying notion of committing suicide to escape this pain surfaced in his head.
The only thing that filled his body and remaining will was the instinct to “run away”… to flee at all costs! As his shrill cries continued to rend the air, Yun Che’s body was rolling and tumbling backwards… By the time he had recovered some semblance of clarity, he had already tumbled sixty meters away.
Yun Che’s face had gone even paler than before and his entire body was twitching and trembling like an insect that was going through its death spasms. Streams of cold sweat rolled down his body. He tightly gritted his teeth… This time, it took an entire thirty breaths before his body finally stopped trembling.
“That’s enough, don’t try that again. How many time do I have to tell you, it’s impossible for you to succeed! You’re only suffering for nothing!” This time, Jasmine did not scold him and one could hear a faint trembling in her voice. At first, she was completely convinced that no matter how strong a person’s will was, the moment that person experienced the pain of one’s soul being stolen, it would leave an eternal dark memory and that person would not even have the courage to think about the experience. But Yun Che… had thrown himself into the fray time and time again.
His desperate actions were so extreme that it was akin to forcefully jumping into a deep abyss, which even the gods would fear, repeatedly. It was not even to fulfill his own selfish desires… it was all for her!!
When Yun Che had endured those spatial storms within the Primordial Profound Ark, what he had experienced was the most extreme physical pain. Jasmine admired his ability to endure all of it, but she was not too surprised by the end result. But comparing physical pain to pain of the soul… it was on an entirely different level!!
Forcefully flensing the soul from the body… it was a process that was millions of times more painful than removing every single bone and blood vessel from one’s body!
Chapter 789 - My Jasmine (2)
Yun Che’s hands pushed himself off the ground as he began to slowly stand up. His pupils were contracted but when he stood up, he was still looking at the four petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower that were pulsing with hellish purple light.
“I want to get closer to it…” He muttered under his breath, his voice hoarse from the screaming, “But why do I always involuntarily… use my remaining strength to run away… Moreover, I’m actually afraid right now…”
“Could it be… that my so-called determination was this… weak!?”
Yun Che’s voice sounded fuzzy and indistinct. It was as if the Netherworld Udumbara Flower’s soul stealing ability was making him delirious. Jasmine immediately replied, “This has nothing to do with the strength of your will! In this world, there isn’t anyone who can endure the pain of their soul being rent from their bodies. There is also no one who isn’t afraid of this pain either!”
“No, it has something to do with it!” Yun Che had finally managed to stand up completely. He looked at the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, his arms trembling. Not only did his eyes contain a fear that could not be dispelled, there was also a growing violence being kindled there. After that he started moving once more and strode towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, “For the sake of reconstituting your body… That was the request that you made of me the very first day we met. Up to now, it has also been the only request that you have ever made!”
“Jasmine, meeting you allowed a cripple like me to gain a new life and I was also able to regain my dignity as well… Because of you, I can protect my grandfather and my little aunt from all harm and mistreatment… Because of you, I found out about my past and I was able to find my real parents… All of the power, status, dignity and fame that I possess today is due to you. If not for that chance meeting with you, I might have died a dog’s death by now… Even if I was still alive, I would possibly only be a wandering ghost that hovered on the edge of despair…”
“But in the end, I could not even help you realize… this sole wish of yours.”
Jasmine, “You…”
“Now, in front of my very eyes, I see what might be your last sliver of hope. So, no matter what… No matter what…!!”
“You… need to stop trying, even if it is you…”
“UWAAHHH!!”
Jasmine’s words had just left her mouth when they were completely engulfed by Yun Che’s roar. He rushed towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower for the fourth time as flames and killing intent covered his body… His strongest aura was his killing aura! So he was using his most extreme killing aura to suppress the fear that he felt towards the pain caused by his soul being rent apart.
In the blink of an eye, Yun Che had once again entered that forty five meter radius. This spot seemed to be the border of a devil’s forbidden zone—No one would be allowed to take even one step inside!
Yun Che was once again assaulted by the indescribable pain of his soul being rent apart. His entire body was contorting and spasming but this time, he forced himself to stay upright. He gritted his teeth tightly as he took his first step into the devil’s forbidden zone…
“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!”
Yun Che’s shout was laced with both pain and determination. He fiercely guarded his soul and his will as he continued forward… one step… two steps… three steps…
Thud!!
By some kind of miracle, he kept charging forward while roaring in rage and wailing in pain. By the end, he had covered a full three meters and now he was within forty two meters of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. He finally sank heavily to his knees and his face was twisted with such extreme pain that his features were all scrunched together. His ten fingers fiercely scrabbled against the ground as they curled and contorted into a shape that resembled withered animal claws…
Pain and terror filled his soul as he began to wish for death rather than survival. The all-consuming desire to run away, at all costs, engulfed his remaining will. His body began to jerk spasmodically as he desperately crawled and rolled away from the source of pain…
The pain started to lessen as his shredded soul finally became tranquil. Yun Che’s mental clarity returned to him as he lay on the ground and looked in the direction of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower… That purple light was once again more than sixty meters away.
“He… hehe… Hahaha… HAHAHAHAHA…” Yun Che’s fists fiercely smashed into the ground as he started laughing in a voice filled with pain and despondency, “To think that I actually ran away once again… To think that I am actually… this useless…”
“Yun Che!! How much longer do you want this foolishness to continue!?” Jasmine yelled at him in a furious voice, “If you’re thinking that the reason that you listed just now is a good reason for your desperate actions, then you can jolly well stop! I don’t need you to repay me for my actions! Everything that I have done is entirely for my own sake! I don’t need you to gamble your life just to get a mere Netherworld Udumbara Flower! Let’s not even talk about the fact that it’s impossible for you to succeed… Even if you do manage to obtain it, I won’t feel the least bit grateful. Rather, I’d only feel that your stupidity knows no bounds!!”
“Repay… your kindness?”
Yun Che used both arms to hoist himself off the ground. His body wobbled and his voice was weak and lacking energy, “How could it just be… to repay your kindness… Jasmine, to me… How could you simply… be a benefactor to me?”
Jasmine, “…”
He turned towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower and spoke in a low voice, “In my life, I, Yun Che, have braved many storms and seas. I have experienced countless life and death struggles and innumerable calamities. Even an ancient devil that came from the Ancient Era one million years ago died under my blade!!”
“So how can I… be so miserably defeated by a mere Netherworld Udumbara Flower!!”
Jasmine shouted in shock, “Are you telling me that you’re about to try again!? Have you experienced so much pain that you’ve lost all of your grip on reality!?”
“No! On the contrary, I feel more clear-headed than ever right now!” Yun Che said with a low shout, “I am not even scared of a devil! I am not even scared of death! So how can a mere flower scare me so badly that I scamper off with my tail in between my legs time and time again!!”
ROOOOOAAAR!!!!
A majestic dragon roar shook the entire place as a pair of azure eyes suddenly blinked open in this pitch-black world. A boundless power engulfed this tiny space as it weighed down on everything.
Dragon Soul Domain!!
Jasmine, “…!!”
The moment he unleashed the Dragon Soul Domain, all of the fear that remained in Yun Che’s heart and eyes completely vanished. He looked at the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, a calm and resolute smile playing across his face, “This time, I will no longer allow myself to be afraid or run away… Because I no longer have a way out!!”
After he unleashed the Dragon Soul Domain, all of his soul energy would be exhausted in an extremely short period of time. So if he retreated again, it would take a very long time before he could recover all of his soul energy… By that time, the Netherworld Udumbara Flower would have already withered away.
So he really did not have a way out after this anymore!
“You can’t!” Jasmine shouted in her loudest voice, “Even if you use the Dragon Soul, you still won’t be able to get anywhere near the Netherworld Udumbara Flower! Moreover, the Dragon Soul Domain will quickly deplete your spirit energy. After that, your soul energy will be extremely weak and it will result in your soul being swiftly devoured by the Netherworld Udumbara Flower! You won’t even have a chance to resist or retreat!!”
“I can do it…” Yun Che gasped through gritted teeth, “Because this is for you… that is why I will definitely succeed!”
“…” Jasmine’s heart was heavily smashed by some unfamiliar object.
ROOOOOAAAR!!!!
As the dragon cry resounded in the air, Yun Che gathered all the profound energy in his body as he rushed towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower yet again… But this would be his final attempt!
Because he would no longer have a chance to try again!!
Yun Che’s soul power grew explosively under the influence of the Dragon Soul Domain. As he drew nearer, the Netherworld Udumbara Flower began to sway quicker and the ghastly wail it released started to sound rather abnormal.
Yun Che gobbled up the distance as he fiercely pressed towards the forty five meter mark. His entire body tensed up but the soul-rending power that assaulted him was casually batted aside by the Dragon God’s soul power. The pain and his loss of willpower was not even half as much as it was before.
His power and his will were still being swiftly worn away by the Netherworld Udumbara Flower’s soul-stealing power. Yun Che began to slow down as his steps became wobbly but he gritted his teeth fiercely as he desperately surged forward… While the Dragon Soul Domain was suppressing that dark and hellish power, he managed to bull his way to within thirty meters of the flower!!
Yun Che was suddenly assaulted by pain which far surpassed the threshold of what he could endure. It was so intense that every hair on his body was shaking and his knees hit the ground violently with a thud. However, his eyes still retained a startling and dreadful clarity…
To be able to retain some semblance of clarity in this sort of situation could only be described as “dreadful”.
“Even if… my soul… is completely ripped apart… I will no longer retreat, not even half a step!”
“UWAHHH!!”
His trembling, powerless arms swayed as he began to crawl towards that hellish purple light. The pain of his soul being torn apart caused him to begin to feel as if his arms and even his entire body did not exist. It was only by squeezing out the last bits of his willpower and determination that he was able to push his body forward… As he advanced, the terrifying feeling of his soul being torn apart and flayed from his body continuously increased.
But he… definitely could not retreat!
Within the Sky Poison Pearl, Hong’er was in deep slumber. The vicious battle with Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign seemed to have left her exhausted. So during the past two days when Yun Che had been recovering from his injuries, she had been sound asleep. Jasmine stood by Hong’er’s bedside, a stupefied look spreading across her face as she witnessed Yun Che’s desperate struggle in stunned amazement. He was slowly crawling within that hellish purple light and he had inched from the thirty meter mark to the twenty seven meter mark. Enormous pain caused his face to twist and warp in such a sinister way that it resembled an evil spirit.
Furthermore, the Dragon God image behind his back was slowly but surely fading away as well…
Suddenly, the Dragon God image flashed and then started fading away at a startlingly fast pace. It seemed like it was about to collapse at any time.
Jasmine’s delicate brows jumped as she cried out involuntarily, “Yun Che, don’t carry on any longer, hurry up and get back! Your Dragon Soul Domain has almost reached its limit… You can still escape before it completely dissipates! If not, this is where you will meet your end!!”
“…” Yun Che did not reply and he did not retreat. His arms trembled as he clawed forward, leaving behind bloody fingerprints in his wake. He had gritted his teeth so hard that blood was flowing from his gums and streamed from the corners of his mouth. But he barely noticed all of this as he slowly crawled through this purgatory that a normal person would never be able to imagine. He inched forward bit by bit, crawling even deeper into hell.
“…Yun Che! Listen up!” Jasmine’s spirit body was also shaking, and she was shaking nearly as fiercely as Yun Che was, “If I am unable to gain a new body, then I can only exist by continuing to stay attached to your lifeline! If you live, I live! If you die, I die! Now I have already escaped the clutches of that devilish poison, so I can use my powers with no hesitation! As long as I don’t die, I will have to ensure that you continue to live as well! Given my power, even if all the people on the Profound Sky Continent ganged up together, they still wouldn’t be able to kill you! You can also rely on my power to do anything that you are unable to do!!”
“If I can never reconstitute my body, then I will have no choice but to rely on you to continue existing! No choice but to continue protecting you forever!”
“But if I do get a new body, then you will be throwing away an extremely strong protective charm! Right… once I get a new body, I will definitely kill you right away! Because you not only know too much of my secrets and you are also the type of person that I detest the most!”
“You are literally paying an enormous price to do the most stupid thing conceivable in this world! There is still time for you to stop and change your mind… Get away from here immediately!!”
Jasmine yelled in her loudest voice, clenching her tiny hands so hard that the joints of her fingers had long since turned white.
Clap!
Yun Che’s hand grabbed onto a black rock that protruded slightly from the ground as he pulled himself forward an inch. His mouth was trembling as he spoke in a hoarse and weak voice, “You… will… not…”
Chapter 790 - My Jasmine (3)
The Dragon God image had grown incredibly faint and it looked like it would disappear at any moment. At this instant, Yun Che’s pupils flashed with firelight as a phoenix cry rang out in the room and the image of a Phoenix coalesced behind his back…
After releasing the Dragon Soul, he released the Phoenix Soul without holding anything back. The weak Dragon Soul and the recently ignited Phoenix Soul combined forces to slightly weaken the soul stealing power of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. Yun Che gave a low roar as he rushed forward. During that burst of speed, he covered another three meters.
Now he was only twenty one meters away from the Netherworld Udumbara Flower!
“Wha… what proof do you have that I won’t!” Jasmine’s strained voice showed that she was losing control over her emotions. She deeply inhaled as she forced herself to remain calm and composed, “Okay… fine… Could it be that you will only be content after you have dragged me down to the grave with you once you have been tortured to death by the pain of having your soul stolen!? If you don’t hurry up and get back to a safe spot, you will be dooming me as well! I endured so many years of that devilish poison and it wasn’t easy for me to get to this point! So if your stupidity today ends up causing my death… I will never ever forgive you, not even in our next lives!!”
While the flames burned, the cry of the Phoenix Soul began to grow weaker and weaker. Yun Che was now only eighteen meters away from the Netherworld Udumbara Flower… Even Jasmine was unable to believe that Yun Che could withstand this horrifying soul stealing ability and the pain of having his soul rent apart and come this close to the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. His miserable cries of pain had grown so hoarse that they barely even sounded human anymore. His actions were so weak that he resembled an old man who was at death’s door. But his arms and his body continued to slowly crawl forward inch by inch…
If the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign still lived, perhaps even he would not be able to believe the scene he was witnessing.
“Jasmine…” Yun Che murmured in a voice so low that even he could not hear himself clearly, “Believe me… I can definitely… make it…”
“You are even… younger than me… Yet from such a young age… you could only… rely on one person… to live… I know just how… painful… and sad… that kind of life is…”
“Even though you are… haughty… stubborn… foul-tempered… and you love to scold me… you have never allowed… me to pity you… but… I know that… you desire freedom… more than anything else…”
“If… we miss this chance… I don’t know… how many more years we will have to… I… will… definitely… not…”
“AAHHHH!!!”
Yet another resonant cry pierced the air, the image of the third Divine Spirit appeared behind Yun Che. The Golden Crow Soul was also ignited by Yun Che, he was releasing all of his soul energy without any reservation.
This explosion of soul energy allowed the now clear-headed Yun Che to stride forward yet again.
By the time he fell to the ground again, he was only fifteen meters away from the Netherworld Udumbara Flower.
But these short fifteen meters were the widest and most terrifying divide in the entire Profound Sky Continent.
At this point, anyone who had not personally experienced the same thing would never be able to imagine what Yun Che was currently enduring.
Dragon God Soul, Phoenix Soul, Golden Crow Soul… All three Divine Spirit images were radiating light. It was just that the images of the Phoenix and the Dragon God had already grown extremely thin and faint but Yun Che was still desperately holding on to the last threads of soul energy. If he did not have the protection of these three Great Divine Spirit Souls, his soul would have long ago been shattered into countless fragments.
Fifteen meters away. This was a distance that Jasmine could scarcely believe. But she knew how hopeless an affair it would be to try to cross these last fifteen meters. Even if Yun Che was at his peak, he would not be able to cross this last stretch… Besides, the Divine Spirit soul power he was relying on had grown extremely weak.
But Yun Che was still using his arms to pull his entire body along as he crawled towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower at a snail’s pace… Jasmine was closely observing Yun Che but she was unable to find out what kind of power the current Yun Che was using to continue dragging himself forward.
“Just what… will make you give up!?” Jasmine’s voice was shaking so hard that it was scarcely recognizable. She turned her head away and closed her eyes… Given her nature, she no longer dared to look at Yun Che’s current appearance, “For the last… I’ll say this for the last time! Immediately… get away from here!! This is an order! I am your master… and you well know that one must always obey their master. Are you telling me that you’re even going to rebel against your master’s orders!?”
Yun Che’s arm was spasming but his body moved forward yet again. His entire body was wriggling and jerking spasmodically, as if he was a dying bug wriggling the last of its life away… Behind him, the images of the Dragon God and the Phoenix had completely disappeared and only the weak light of the Golden Crow image was still flashing.
“A master’s order cannot be disobeyed…” Yun Che’s eyes still remained open as his blood-stained mouth whispered those word, “But in my heart… you are not merely… my master…”
“You are also… my… Jasmine!!!!”
“…” Jasmine’s body trembled. Her heart had grown completely muddled, as if something had exploded in the very depths of her soul.
“UUWAAAAAAH!”
The Golden Crow image had also completely disappeared. The moment all three Divine Spirit images completely disappeared, Yun Che’s body was suddenly lit up by flames and under the firelight, one could also see a scarlet profound light…
The three drops of Phoenix origin blood and the nine drops of Golden Crow origin blood were ignited by him in that one instant.
This was the second time he had ignited his Divine origin blood ever since the duel that he had with Xia Qingyue all those years ago! The difference was that he had drawn the origin blood out of his body to ignite it the first time around, but this time, he had ignited it while the origin blood was still in his body.
At the same time, he also resolutely opened the fourth gate of the Evil God that caused him to lose half his life in those short two breaths of time.
“Rumbling… Heaven!!”
Like an insect on the brink of death, Yun Che fiercely rushed forward as cauterizing flames burned all around him. In an instant, he covered nearly fifteen meters of ground. With his remaining will, he hazily ascertained the direction in which the purple light lay. He desperately thrust out his left hand, which flashed with a green light as he came into contact with the purple light, which resembled devil eyes…
Bang!
Yun Che heavily fell to the ground and stopped moving completely. All of the wounds that his body had just recovered from had all ruptured open, whether it was his internal or external wounds. Furthermore, those injuries were even worse than they had been; they were so serious that Yun Che had instantly lost consciousness as he lay there unmoving.
The world within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest had finally descended into its dark quiet solitude once more… Furthermore, it was an absolute darkness, not a single thread of light continued to glow in this place.
Jasmine dumbly stood in place. She neither moved nor spoke for a very long time… The only things one could see were two streams of wetness trailing down her snow white face. They did not stop, the tears only streaming down faster and faster in the silence.
——————————
——————————
“Uuu… This isn’t real… Big Brother… I don’t want you to die… Uuuuu… I don’t want this… don’t want this!!”
“Jasmine… don’t cry… Even if Big Brother isn’t around, you must still… continue to be strong… You still need… to protect Caizhi… After all, she… Cough, cough cough.”
“I… I understand. I will protect Caizhi, I will protect her the same way Big Brother protected me. I must be strong… I must also… must also kill that person… kill all of the people of that astral plane to take revenge for my brother…”
“No… please don’t… don’t visit your vengeance on her…”
“Why… It’s obvious that she was the one who harmed Big Brother… Why is Big Brother still trying to protect her!?”
“Jasmine… you’re still young. Once you’ve grown up, you will learn to truly love someone. It is then that you will understand… Big Brother may have died because of her… but I have no regrets… I just have too many worries that I am leaving behind…”
“Jasmine… promise Big Brother this one last thing… In the future… once you’ve grown up… if there comes a day where you meet a man who is strong, treats you as good as Big Brother has and is willing to give up anything for you… even his life. Then get him to… bring you… far away from this place… forever… The further the better… so no one will be able to find you…”
“No… I don’t want… In this world, there will never be someone who will treat me as well as Big Brother… I only want Big Brother… Uu… uwaaaaaaaaaah…”
“Jasmine… you will definitely be able to meet that person… Because my sister… is the kindest… and most beautiful girl… in the world…”
——————————
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“…” Jasmine stretched out her small hand and touched the two warm streams of tears that ran down her snowy face. Perhaps it was because she had not cried since the death of her brother and it had been far too long since then. As a result, too many tears had accumulated, and no matter how she tried to control them, those flowing tears simply refused to stop.
Big Brother, do you know? I’ve really met someone who fits that description.
But, how can I…
“Eh? Big Sis Jasmine, you’re crying!”
While Jasmine was in a daze, she had not realized that Hong’er had woken up. She stood by Jasmine’s side, looking curiously at Jasmine’s tear-stained face while racking her brains. After she had confirmed what she was thinking several times over, she suddenly started jumping in excitement as she shouted, “Whoaa! I had always thought that only I knew how to cry, but it looks like Big Sis Jasmine also knows how to cry as well… This is great!!”
Hong’er always got excited over the weirdest things. This time, Jasmine didn’t encourage her like she normally did to make her happy. Instead, she stretched out a hand and lightly grasped Hong’er’s white and delicate hand.
“Hong’er, if there comes a day where I won’t be here anymore and I won’t return for a very long time… you need to obediently listen to your master’s words, okay?”
“Of course that’s okay!” Hong’er said as she nodded her head with no hesitation. She smiled merrily as she replied, “I have always been very obedient to Master… Ah?” Hong’er had finally noticed the main point and she asked Jasmine curiously, “Big Sis Jasmine, you won’t be here? Are you going somewhere else to play?”
“I don’t know, perhaps I have been thinking too much all of the sudden.” Jasmine said as she gave a faint smile, “Anyways, you need to obediently obey your master at all times, okay. Because besides me, you master is the person who treats Hong’er the best in this world, right?”
“Mn!” Hong’er obediently nodded her head. But after that, she slanted her head and whispered to herself, “It’s so strange. Big Sis Jasmine seems really weird today… Aiyah, I don’t care anymore! Big Sis Jasmine, now that I’ve finished sleeping, my tummy is rumbling again! I want to eat lots and lots of delicious stuff!”
“…………”
There was no sound and no light. Within the boundless darkness, Yun Che lay unmoving, whether he still lived or if he had died was a complete mystery.
Chapter 791 - Hazy Dreamscape
Where is… this place?
Yun Che could only see a completely white world in front of him.
“Husband…” Cang Yue’s voice drifted into his ear. She appeared before him dressed in her phoenix robe, that soft and gentle expression that she would only show in front of him displayed on her beautiful and delicate face, “You need to take care of yourself, I will always be waiting for you in the Imperial City… I’ll wait till the day you’ve fulfilled all of your wishes, then I’ll accompany you wherever you wish to go. I don’t need anything else but you.”
“Senior Sister Xuerou… Yue’er…” Yun Che did his best to stretch out his hand and grasp her soft shoulder, “Don’t worry, I won’t let you wait for too long. In this life, I’ve done too much wrong to you already. But I will definitely… never forsake you.”
But his hand only passed through an illusion.
“Little Che, you’re hurt again?”
This time, it was Xiao Lingxi’s sweet and gentle voice that rang in his ears, “It wasn’t easy for us to reunite, so nothing must ever happen to you. If not, I really won’t know how I’m supposed to continue living anymore. Little Che… uuu…”
“Little Aunt, don’t worry, I’ll be fine… After I leave this place, I’ll immediately head back to Floating Cloud City.”
“What about me then? When will you come back and see me again?”
An anger-filled voice rang out behind him. He turned around and saw the Little Demon Empress. She may be small and delicate but the frightening power that she released from her body was right next to him, “You said you’d return shortly, but now you’ve been gone half a year, and you haven’t even sent me a single message! Are you tired of living!? Does your heart even remember me anymore!?”
Yun Che replied in an anxious and panicked voice, “Caiyi, how would it be possible for me to forget you. Since I left the Illusory Demon Realm, I have thought of you every single day. It is just that too many unexpected things happened while I was over here. Once I have settled everything on this side, I will return as fast as I can and I will bring many people with me as well.”
The figures of Yun Qinghong and Mu Yurou appeared behind the Little Demon Empress. A faint smile played across Yun Qinghong’s calm face, it was as if he was always so relaxed and composed, “Che’er, you are a true man, the one thing that your father is most proud of in his life. You are also the pride of the Yun Family. Go forth my child. Don’t be too weighed down by worries and restrictions, go do whatever you deem is right. Go do whatever you have to do!”
“No, don’t listen to your father’s words!” Mu Yurou said as tears danced in her eyes, “Che’er, hurry up and come home. Mother has been yearning for your presence day and night… Mother isn’t asking you to accomplish great things. I don’t care if you’re ordinary your entire life. I only want you to always be safe and sound, never having to suffer or worry…”
“Father, Mother…” Yun Che softly called out to them as he stretched out his height. But he could not reach them in time as their figures had already vanished into thin air.
“Yun Che, I left for somewhere far far away, and perhaps, we will never meet again in this life. You need to take care of yourself.”
That voice was soft and gentle, but it sounded nearly emotionless. Yun Che’s head jerked up as he saw a blue-clothed Xia Qingyue standing high in the clouds. Her figure was misty and enchanting as if she was a fairy that had descended from heaven. Her beautiful eyes glanced at Yun Che, before she turned around to leave, floating away with the clouds.
“Qingyue! Where are you… Don’t go! Tell me where you are right now!”
But no matter how hard he called, Xia Qingyue still slowly disappeared into the distance before completely vanishing from his world.
“Heh, Brother-in-law, even though we don’t know where Sis went, I have become extremely powerful now! I am even stronger than her now!”
Xia Yuanba appeared in front of him as he slammed both of his iron fists together, “Before, it was Brother-in-law who kept protecting me. But from now on, it will be I who protects Brother-in-law! If anyone dares to bully Brother-in-law, even if I’m not able to beat that fellow, I’ll still put my life on the line and fight!”
“So Brother-in-law, you must definitely not get into any trouble before we find Big Sis… Pah! What I mean is that I hope Brother-in-law and Sister will always be well and that the both of you will never run into any more danger!”
“Yuanba…”
“Big Brother Yun, I’m begging you… Please come back safe and sound. Xue’er will be waiting here for you. If you don’t come back for ten years, Xue’er will be waiting here for ten years… If you never come back, then Xue’er will stay here to keep you company for all eternity…”
Feng Xue’er kneeled in her spot, her hands clasped together, her eyes shining with tears. Her cherry lips were uttering a soft prayer, as a heart-wrenching aura radiated from her.
Yun Che anxiously rushed over to where she was, “Xue’er, nothing happened to me. I’m fine now, and I’ll be coming out soon, so you’ll be able to see me again. Xue’er… Xue’er!”
But Feng Xue’er could not hear his voice. No matter how loud he yelled, she still kneeled in tearful prayer, her melancholy and grief were boundless.
“Yun Che, before I even realized it, we’ve already been separated for so many years… I am waiting for you in a safe haven and I’ve even borne you an adorable daughter. So why haven’t you found us yet…”
At the very edges of his vision, he seemed to catch sight of a snowy figure. Even though it was only her back, it still remained as dreamily beautiful as ever. Yun Che’s heart was so agitated that he lost all control as he desperately tried to draw closer. He yelled at the top of his lungs, “Little Fairy! Is that you… Where are you right now!? Quickly tell me where you are! Answer me please!!”
Before he could even wait for a reply, his vision slightly blurred, after which, that figure had completely vanished as well.
But right in front of him appeared two figures at the same time. When Yun Che saw them, he simply stood in place, as he stuttered out a response, “Ling… er…”
On the left stood Su Ling’er. She was slender and elegant, all dressed in white silk. Her expression was one of melancholy and there was an eternal sadness written between her brows. On the right stood Su Ling’er once again but this was the young Ling’er. She was ten years of age, her delicate features slowly budding into wonderful maturity.
She softly spoke, “Yun Che, even though you owe me an entire lifetime, I have no regrets. Do you know that the moment that I died was the happiest moment in my entire life? Because I could sense those tears that you shed were for me.”
“If there is such a thing as reincarnation, even if we will meet the same end, I will still be like a moth drawn to your flame…”
“Ling’er…” Yun Che sank to his knees, his chest filled with boundless guilt, pain, loathing and regret…
“Big Brother Yun Che.” The young Ling’er had the purest and most innocent hope in her eyes, “You promised me that you would definitely be back to take me as your bride. Ling’er has been waiting… waiting every single day. So many years have gone by and Ling’er has already grown up. So why hasn’t Big Brother Yun Che come to fetch me…”
“Ling’er… I’ve done you wrong! But I will immediately find a way to get to the Azure Cloud Continent. Just wait for me a while longer… just a short while longer! In this life, I will definitely never hurt you nor forsake you, I definitely won’t…”
Ping!!
At this moment, that pure white world shattered into fragments and a boundless darkness replaced it instead.
“Urgh…”
A dry croak came from Yun Che’s lips. He opened his eyes with much difficulty and all he could see was boundless darkness.
“Jasmine… I think that… I shouldn’t be dead.” Yun Che said with a small grin on his face.
“Hmph! Hurry up and start healing your wounds!” Jasmine said in a huffy and angry voice, “To think that you’d actually dare to open ‘Rumbling Heaven’ again before your wounds were fully healed! If you didn’t stake it all on the ignition of your Phoenix and Golden Crow blood, you would have long ago become a shattered corpse!”
“Heh…” Yun Che gave a self-satisfied chuckle instead, “I said it before, didn’t I!? I can definitely… do it!”
Jasmine, “…”
“But this time around, my injuries were really… quite serious.” Yun Che muttered to himself. After that he used all of his might to take in a long breath of air, focusing his mind, calming down his blood and energy and slowly entering a state where he could begin his recovery.
His extremely abnormal recovery ability had always been the main reason he dared to keep risking his own neck.
When Yun Che opened his eyes once more, several hours had already passed.
However, not only had he not fully recovered from his old wounds, he had suffered even more injuries since then. Even if Yun Che possessed the power of the Rage God and the body of the Dragon God, it was definitely impossible for him to completely recover in such a short period of time. But these few hours of rest had stabilized his injuries. Furthermore, he had lost so much blood that he felt extremely anemic at the moment.
He had also encountered a very large obstacle when he tried to recover his strength.
“I have only recovered about forty percent of my strength and if I want to fully recover, it will need a decidedly long period of time.” Yun Che muttered to himself. But at the very least, his power was recovering faster than his wounds.
“You opened the ‘Rumbling Heaven’ gate twice in one day and this severely exhausted your profound veins! The fact that you can somehow recover forty percent of your strength is remarkable in and of itself! Even if you have the Evil God Profound Veins, you will need at least half a month to make a full recovery!” Jasmine said in a huffy and irritated tone, “Furthermore, you also ignited your Phoenix origin blood and Golden Crow origin blood… Even though it has been several years since you last ignited them forcibly like this, the damage inflicted was still very serious! So within this half a month, the power of your Phoenix flames will be cut in half, and the power of your Golden Crow flames will drop by roughly thirty percent!
“The price that you have paid this time is simply…” Jasmine’s voice stopped as the complex feelings in her heart made it hard for her to speak.
Yun Che sat up straight before he stood up once more. The movement caused wounds that covered his entire body to tear. It was so painful that Yun Che could not help but grimace. He stretched out a hand and a flame ignited on top of it… Even though it was still a Golden Crow flame, its aura of destruction was indeed much weaker.
“It doesn’t matter, it’s not like it won’t recover forever. It will only take half a month.” The flames went out but Yun Che still had a relaxed smile on his face, “Compared to the result we obtained, the price I had to pay was simply insignificant.”
Before he had fainted, he had felt the four petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower being harvested by the power of the Sky Poison Pearl… Or else how would he be able to faint in peace.
“An insignificant price? That is considered an insignificant price to you!?” Jasmine grew furious once more, “Could it be that you do not know what you just endured!? You were one inch away from your body and soul being annihilated! But right now, you actually… you actually still don’t feel like it’s anything much?”
“Even though we didn’t get the best result, we still managed to get four flower petals in the end. As for the process, why the hell do we need to care about it anymore!” Yun Che was still smiling merrily, as if the Netherworld Udumbara Flower had not left the shadow of terror in his heart, “Jasmine, don’t you suddenly feel that I am way more awesome than you ever imagined! I have just accomplished a feat that you felt was absolutely impossible to do!”
“You… are really stupid! You’re the biggest idiot… IDIOT!!” Jasmine yelled in frenetic fury, she sounded as if she hated that she could not come out of the Sky Poison Pearl and give him a good walloping.
Yun Che closed his eyes as he prepared for his consciousness to enter the Sky Poison Pearl… But all of sudden, he opened his eyes again as he suspiciously surveyed his surroundings.
In order to counteract the terrifying soul stealing ability of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, he had used the Dragon God Soul, the Phoenix Soul and the Golden Crow Soul, so in the end, he had used up so much energy that he had run empty. So the moment he woke up, it should not only be his power and his body that became frail, his mind should also be exceptionally frail and weak at this point of time.
But at this moment, his mind was not only not muddled, it was actually exceptionally clear! What was even stranger… was that his spiritual perception had originally been suppressed to an extremely small radius within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. But right now, he could clearly feel the flow of energy within a radius of more than thirty meters!
What was going on? Why did my mental power instead…
However, he chose to focus all his attention on the Netherworld Udumbara Flower first. He did not give it much more thought as he focused his consciousness and entered the Sky Poison Pearl.
Chapter 792 - Mysterious Black Jade
In the world of the Sky Poison Pearl, Jasmine stood with her back facing him, a cold look on her face. On the small bed beside her, Hong’er was snoring lightly after having eaten her fill.
That gloomy purple light was especially eye-catching in this jade-green world.
The four petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower were perfectly unharmed, and they were currently being surrounded by a thin layer of green light as they floated quietly in place. Even then, that purple light still shone clearly through it, but it did not affect Yun Che’s soul in any way.
“It looks like its soul stealing ability has been sealed by the Sky Poison Pearl.” Yun Che said in relief as he drew closer.
“Hmph! What does that have to do with the Sky Poison Pearl!? The moment the Netherworld Udumbara Flower was harvested, I was the one who sealed its hellish power so that it would not leak out any more.” Jasmine turned around, her face tilted to the side as she refused to look at him.
“Hm?” Yun Che stared at Jasmine’s tiny face and asked her with a shocked and doubtful look on his face, “Jasmine, your eyes seem a bit weird. Why do I get the feeling that… you were crying before this?”
“What… nonsense!” Jasmine’s reaction was akin to cat whose tail had been stepped on, “Crying? Me? What a ridiculous thing to say!”
“…” Jasmine’s weird reaction caused Yun Che’s eyes to be filled with suspicion. He redirected his gaze to the Netherworld Udumbara Flower once more and said in a sincere voice, “Two profound cores from a Sovereign Profound Beast, more than thirty five kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal and now we finally have the Netherworld Udumbara Flower as well… Jasmine, all the things that you needed have been gathered. So now you can begin to reform your body, correct? Or do you still need to fulfill any other conditions? Such as a certain environment, or some kind of external energy…”
“There is no need for anything else! Now that all of these items have been gathered, I can start right away!” Jasmine said as she shook her head. After that, she gave Yun Che a very deep look as she said in irate tone, “The fact that you were able to obtain this four petal Netherworld Udumbara Flower far exceeded my expectations but you must never ever do such a thing… Forget it! In any case, you never listen to anything that I say!”
“I can begin reconstituting my body right away!” Jasmine repeated as her eyes grew focused, “Right now, I am unable to go outside and while the Sky Poison Pearl is able to house spirit bodies, it is unable to harbor any living creatures. If I try it here, it will come with the risk that something strange occurs during the process. So, the best possible choice and the only choice left to me right now would be to use the Primordial Profound Ark.”
“I was also thinking of that.” Yun Che said as he nodded his head.
“Once I have regained my physical form, the devil energy within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest will not harm me in the slightest. As for that sealing barrier…” Contempt appeared on Jasmine’s face as she spoke, “I can tear it apart with a twist of my fingers.”
She glanced over as she continued, “The reason why you were not bothered by the barrier being resealed and you being left behind is because you assumed that once I regained my physical form, I would be able to easily tear open this barrier, correct?”
“You’re absolutely right.” Yun Che said as he looked intently at the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, his hand on his jaw. He looked like he was pondering something deeply before he continued to speak, “However, before that… Oh right, Jasmine! Roughly how much time will it take for your body to be reconstituted?”
Jasmine fell silent as she furrowed her brows in thought. After that she replied, “Even though I know the method, I have never tried it before. According to the records and given my degree of strength, it shouldn’t take too long. It will roughly take around twenty odd hours, give or take. Perhaps it will be longer, perhaps it will be shorter. But there shouldn’t be too much of a discrepancy from the estimate that I’ve made.”
“I see.” This amount of time was far shorter than Yun Che had imagined it to be. Things on the same level as Jasmine were indeed things that he were basically unable to understand or measure given his knowledge.
After silently calculating how long he had been trapped in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, he suddenly spoke up, “Jasmine, your soul body is unable to leave me for too long a period of time, correct? But what if you were in the Primordial Profound Ark? After all, it has already been absorbed into my body.”
Jasmine immediately understood what Yun Che was trying to get at. She shook her head sharply and with no hesitation, “Of course not! The Primordial Profound Ark forms its own world. If I am within the Primordial Profound Ark and you are not, even if it is absorbed into your body, we will still be separated by two worlds! If that situation continues for even a moderate period of time, my soul will be scattered to the four winds before I’d be able to finish reconstituting my body.”
“Could it be that you can’t wait for me to finish reconstituting my body and you want to leave the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest earlier?”
“Sort of.” Yun Che said as he nodded his head, “I’ve already been here for three days. If my calculations aren’t too far off, the Devil Sword Conference will start in around twelve to fourteen hours. If I can get out now, I can make it just in time.”
“Before I reconstitute my body, I won’t be able to materialize in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest! So how are you going to get out?” Just as she finished speaking, a thought flashed through Jasmine’s mind, “Could it be that you want to try…”
“Well, I should give it a try at the very least!” Yun Che rubbed both his hands together, an eager expression on his face,” If I can succeed, then that would naturally be great. If I fail, then it won’t really matter much either way. The main objective I came to Supreme Ocean Palace for has already been achieved. The Devil Sword Conference isn’t something that I feel like I definitely need to participate in.”
Yun Che’s consciousness left the Sky Poison Pearl and he opened his eyes once more. He ignited his Golden Crow Flames and borrowed the firelight to guide his steps forward.
Bang.
A sound suddenly rang out from behind him, it sounded as if some sort of stone had fallen to the ground. The sound was very faint, but in this silent world, it could be heard clear as day. It caused Yun Che to instantly halt in his tracks as his completely relaxed nerves tensed up, like he had come into contact with electricity.
Bang… bang… bang, bang, bang…
Something hard continued to fall against the ground, and it was getting faster and faster. The moment Yun Che decided to turn around, he heard a huge explosion suddenly shake the place.
Bang!!
“Don’t worry.” Jasmine said in a tepid tone, “It is just the stone wall at very end of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest finally collapsing. When you destroyed the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, most of the energy from your attack had exploded against that wall. Even though it did not collapse then and there many cracks had been formed in it. But I didn’t think that it would actually collapse now.”
“Ah, so that’s what it was.” Yun Che said as he gave a soft sigh of relief.
“Go take a look!” Jasmine abruptly said, “That is the stone wall at the very end of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. Now that it has caved in… it is very possible that there is another world behind it!”
Yun Che moved forward as instructed, his footsteps were exceptionally cautious. At the same time, he caused the Golden Crow flames to burn even more intensely as they expanded the radius of his vision slightly.
Crunch!
A small sound rang out as he stepped on something that was scattered on the ground. Yun Che swiftly focused on what was below his feet and he was astonished to find that he had stepped on a pile of black ash.
This was what remained after the Golden Crow flames had burned up the body of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign!
But only part of it had become ash, there was also something that the Golden Crow flames could not incinerate, it was as hard and solid as a boulder.
Yun Che did not pay any attention to it as he continued moving forward. He very quickly reached the point where the light of his flames shone on a pile of pitch-black rubble.
Yun Che flung out his arm, pushing the Golden Crow flames in his hand forward. The moment the flames touched the ground, they shone even brighter, fully illuminating the path ahead… Half of the pitch-black stone wall that was at the end of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest had crumbled, shattered stones littering the ground.
Beyond that wall lay a black hole that gave off the feeling of a deep abyss.
The Golden Crow flames that he tossed near the wall clearly illuminated the entire outline of that “black hole”. But he could only see a dreadful inky darkness that lay beyond. He was not able to see what was inside at all. The Golden Crow flames were right next to the black hole, but their light could not penetrate into its interior.
It seemed to Yun Che that even if the strongest light one could imagine came into contact with the world behind that stone wall, it would be swallowed up in an instant.
“That is… Behind that wall, there seems to be another dimension!” Yun Che said in a low voice and he found that he was unconsciously holding his breath. He suddenly thought of something. He was able to blast this stone wall open when he had pushed himself to his limits, but given the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s strength… Perhaps he would have needed a longer time but he definitely had the ability to blast it open as well.
But before it had been struck by his sword blast, this stone wall had clearly been completely untouched.
Could it be that for an entire ten thousand years, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had failed to discover the world that lay on the other side of the wall?
Or… was it that he was aware of it but for some reason, he chose not to blast that wall open?
Or perhaps… that stone wall was constructed by the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign in the first place!?
Yun Che’s heart burned with a huge suspicion and an intense curiosity. He once again ignited a cluster of Golden Crow flames in his hand. After that, he began to stride forward, intending to approach that “black hole” and investigate just what kind of world lay behind that stone wall.
But before his foot had even touched the ground, Jasmine suddenly shouted in alarm, “Don’t approach that black hole! Immediately get back!!”
Yun Che’s body froze before he immediately turned around and retreated by a good distance.
“Jasmine, what’s wrong? Is there something dangerous in that place?” Yun Che asked cautiously.
“It is far more than merely being dangerous!” Jasmine said in an extremely serious voice, “I finally know where the dark devil energy in this place is coming from!”
“…So it’s coming from inside that black hole?” Yun Che asked with sunken brows.
“That’s right! It lies behind that stone wall! To be able to release darkness energy of such a high level, whatever is hidden behind that wall is definitely extremely terrifying!” Jasmine’s voice grew more and more serious. He did not know if he was mishearing it but Yun Che could sense fear and alarm shooting through Jasmine’s voice right now, “Moreover, when I extended my senses into the interior of that black hole just now…”
Jasmine’s voice came to a sudden halt and a long time passed before she finally exhaled faintly and continued, “I don’t know how to describe what kind of feeling that was. Whatever it is, you need to leave immediately and you must never ever approach this place again!”
Yun Che gave a grunt of assent as he continued to draw back. It was just that this time, his retreat was much more leisurely. He was only alarmed at that terrifying unknown existence that laid behind that stone wall.
He was willing to repeatedly risk his life to obtain the Netherworld Udumbara Flower but he would definitely not be so stupid as to risk his life for the sake of satisfying his meaningless curiosity!
After he had retreated several steps, Yun Che turned around… But just as he was turning his body, he saw a faint shimmer of light flash across the corner of his eyes.
Hm? Light!?
How could there be anything that reflected light in this place?
After hesitating for a moment, Yun Che abruptly began striding forward at a quick pace.
“What are you trying to do!?” Jasmine asked in shock as she thought that he intended to force his way into that world behind the stone wall.
Once he was in the approximate location of where he saw that light being reflected, he stopped and began to slowly lower his body to the ground.
In front of him lay the pile of ashes of that was all that remained of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. It was this pile of ash that had been unintentionally stepped on and scattered by him. Amidst the scattered ashes, there was a bizarre black light that was being reflected by the Golden Crow flames.
Yun Che extended a hand and reached towards the item that was flashing with light, retrieving it from the pile of ashes.
It was a round piece of black jade that fit perfectly in his palm. It was heavy and cold to the touch and it was flawlessly jet-black all over. It was extremely smooth and glossy and he did not see a single marking or rune anywhere on its surface.
“What is this?” Jasmine asked suspiciously.
“I have no idea either. In fact, I was just about to ask you the same question.” Yun Che carefully examined it but he could not find anything odd. Furthermore, Jasmine’s words also told him that even she did not know what this was.
But he could definitely confirm one thing, this item was definitely something that belonged to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was isolated in this place for ten thousand years but he had not thrown this item away. It was clear that he had always kept it on his person… If that was the case, then it definitely could not be merely a piece of ordinary black jade!!
Even the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s flesh had been burned to ashes by the Golden Crow flames, yet this jade remained completely undamaged. Just this point alone would be enough to prove that it was no common item.
It was just that it had no markings and no runes, it did not even give off any form of energy aura at all! Just from its aura alone, it appeared to be no more than a most ordinary piece of jade, something that was not even comparable to the lowest-grade profound jade.
“Jasmine, can you feel anything special about it?” Yun Che brought the black jade even closer to his eyes as he strove to discover something about it.
“…Why don’t you try and infuse your profound energy into it?” Jasmine asked.
“Alright!”
Yun Che summoned a thread of energy and he slowly and gently infused that thread of profound energy into the black jade. Immediately, a deep shock appeared on his face. With a flip of his hand, he sent an even stronger thread of profound energy into the black jade… and his face grew even more stunned and amazed.
“What is going on?” His expression caused Jasmine’s brows to knit together as she immediately asked him a question.
“It disappeared!?” Yun Che still stared at his palm in disbelief. The two threads of profound energy that he had infused into this piece of black jade had disappeared like a drop of water in an ocean, it had vanished without a trace. And this reflective black jade still did not give off any aura!
It was as if the two threads of profound energy had been swallowed up by a bottomless abyss, forever disappearing from this earth.
“Disappeared?” Jasmine’s expression was just as shocked as Yun Che. She thought about it for a while before speaking in a low voice, “Since it was something that belonged to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, then it is extremely likely that it is something on the level of the devils! Its mysteries will not be so easily divined by any ordinary power.”
“But don’t think too deeply about it right now and set it aside for the time being, it may come in use in the future. Right now, you’d be better off focusing your energy and attention on thinking of a way to escape from this place!”
Chapter 793 - Gigantic Ice Flame
Yun Che first came to the spot that was right in front of the exit of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. He stood before the barrier as two streams of profound energy simultaneously surged out from both his arms. Flames ignited around his left hand while ice crystal coalesced in his right hand.
Scarlet profound light and icy-blue profound light were swiftly being gathered between his arms as they expanded outwards. After that he closed his eyes and focused his mind, his Evil God profound energy circulated as he slowly merged these two mutually repulsive forces together.
Three days ago, he had deliberately stayed behind in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest that was surrounded by an extremely strong isolating barrier. Even though this barrier was known as the strongest barrier in the Profound Sky Continent and even the powers of the Four Sacred Masters combined would not be able to break it open, his ice flames were something that violated the very laws and principles of this world. In fact, it was something that could even be called a heaven-defying existence! When he was still only at the Sky Profound Realm, he was able to use these ice flames to melt the walls of the Primordial Profound Ark. When he had entered the initial stages of the Emperor Profound Realm, these ice flames were able to completely erase the Sun Moon Elder Ye Shi by simply touching him.
“Jasmine, this barrier may be the called the strongest barrier in the Profound Sky Continent but it shouldn’t be more solid and resilient than the Primordial Profound Ark, right!? The ice flames were even able to damage the Profound Primordial Ark, so it should definitely be able to break apart this barrier.” Yun Che said with an air of confidence.
When he had first formed the ice flame, he needed to be completely focused and his profound veins and body would also experience a heavy burden. If he just relaxed a tick, it was possible that he would lose control of the ice flame and harm himself. But now, he could practically create them at will.
“The Primordial Profound Ark is something from the Primordial Era, so how can this sealing barrier even compare to it?” Jasmine said disdainfully, “But don’t forget, you needed six whole months to create a breach in the walls of the Primordial Profound Ark that you could use to exit, and you created nearly a thousand ice flames in the process.”
“Moreover, the walls of the Primordial Profound Ark did not have the ability to repair themselves. So even though this sealing barrier is far weaker than the Primordial Profound Ark, the moment it receives any damage, it will swiftly repair itself! So if you want to get out, you’ll need to blast open a rather large hole!”
“That’s something I do know.” Yun Che said as he gave a small nod of his head, “But do you think that I can succeed?”
“I don’t know.” Jasmine said without thinking but after that she doubled back on her words, “The so-called ‘ice flame’ that you hold in your hands is something that basically violates all the principles and laws of the world! I had never even heard of such a thing before this. Furthermore, I was always unable to sense what kind of principles of power it operated on, and its might is also something that I cannot fathom… Or perhaps, it does not even have anything that can be conceptualized as ‘power’. It is not possible to use conventional knowledge or common sense to predict what it can do.”
“At Frozen Cloud Asgard half a year ago, that elder from the Sun Moon Divine Hall merely touched the ice flame but he could not even put up any resistance as was incinerated to the point where even his bones had melted away. That result was something that completely exceeded my expectations. Today, I am naturally completely unable to say anything conclusive, you will just have to find out by giving it a shot.”
“Alright, let’s give it a shot then!” Before Yun Che’s arms drew back before he gently pushed them forward. This also pushed the ice flame against the isolation barrier.
The destructive power of the ice flames were undoubtedly terrifying and Yun Che was convinced that they would even be able to seriously injure one of the Four Scared Masters if they came into contact with them. But creating the ice flame not only required him to be focused, it also required a lot of time. He also had to be extremely careful in handling them. He did not even dare use too much force when he flung it out. Therefore, while it was useful in assassinations, it was unusable in real combat.
Otherwise, if the ice flame could be conjured as easily as all his other flames and flung out with full force, he could definitely trample all over the Sacred Grounds, roaming the Profound Sky Continent without a care in the world.
The ice flame soundlessly started burning the moment they came into contact with the barrier.
The burning of the ice flame had always been completely silent. This time was no exception. Under the remaining light, Yun Che witnessed the ice flame instantly burning a round hole into that incredibly resilient isolation barrier that had existed for an entire ten thousand years…
It was as if a hole had been burned into a silk cloth.
This hole was only about the size of his palm but as the ice flame continued to eat away at the barrier, that hole grew deeper and deeper. By the time the ice flame had completely dissipated, that hole was half a foot deep… But it was still not deep enough to pierce the barrier.
Ssss!!
The sound of sizzling lightning continuously rang out in the air as the blue light around the damaged barrier began to flash. Energy surged forth from all directions as the barrier began to ripple like water.
One breath later, the ripples had died down and the hole that had been gouged out by the ice flame had completely disappeared. He could not even see a single trace of the damage that it had previously done.
Yun Che, “…”
Outside the barrier.
“Xue’er, why don’t you return with royal father first… Royal father will definitely assign people to watch over this place twenty four hours a day. The moment there is any movement, I will immediately alert you. Is that okay?”
Feng Hengkong looked at his daughter with pain in his eyes as he tried his best to reason with her. For the past three days, he would come once a day. He could see that Feng Xue’er was growing more wan and thin with each passing day. It was just that Feng Xue’er refused to budge, no matter what he said.
Given his understanding of his own daughter, she was not an obstinate and stubborn person. On the contrary, she had always been obedient to him and the Phoenix God. She had always listened to what they had to say.
But once it was something that concerned Yun Che, she would actually become this stubborn… or one could even call it resolute and determined.
Before this, Yun Che had been the person he had hated the most in this world and he could barely contain his desire to personally and cruelly end his life… But right now, he was fervently praying with all his might that Yun Che was still alive, and he was even praying that he was completely unharmed at the moment.
Because he was afraid that his daughter’s smile would be forever taken away if something really happened to Yun Che.
“Royal Father, you don’t need to worry about me. Big Brother Yun will definitely be alright. Moreover, he cares for me so much that he definitely would not be willing to keep me waiting for long.” Feng Xue’er closed her eyes as she spoke softly, both her hands still placed on her chest.
“Divine Phoenix Sect Master, stop trying to convince her. Tomorrow is the day of the Devil Sword Conference, so you definitely must be busy preparing a lot of things. You don’t need to worry about Little Sister Xue’er, leave it to me.” Xia Yuanba chose this moment to speak out.
The sky had grown dark and it was dotted with stars. The curtain of night had already begun to fall over the blue sky and ocean. The moment this curtain of night was pierced by the light of the sun once more, it would signal the beginning of the Devil Sword Conference. All in all, it would only be ten to twelve hours before it began.
On this exceedingly rare occasion, nearly all the top practitioners of the Profound Sky Continent would be gathered in one place. The meeting that was purportedly for the sake of comprehending “the mysteries of the Divine Profound” was an event that many of its attendees looked forward to with much anticipation.
“Haah…” Feng Hengkong’s lips moved but in the end, he could only sigh. The fact that Yun Che had been sealed inside the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest had long ago spread through Supreme Ocean Palace, so all of the people who came to attend the Devil Sword Conference were well-aware of this fact. Initially, people kept coming to this place to see if Yun Che was truly capable of escaping from this place. But from the second day onwards, very few people came to investigate.
From the third day, everyone thought that Yun Che was undoubtedly dead.
Because this was the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest!!
Even the Four Sacred Masters would not be able to last a day inside there.
“Xue’er, if you truly believe that Yun Che will definitely return alive, then your royal father will also believe that as well… So your royal father will also come to visit this place every day.”
Before he left, Feng Hengkong lightly patted Feng Xue’er’s shoulder as he gave a silent sigh and suppressed all the emotion in his heart.
He was beginning to feel more and more that for the Divine Phoenix Sect to get entangled with this Yun Che… was the greatest calamity that had struck them in the past five thousand years!!
Compared to Feng Xue’er, Xia Yuanba was far less worried about the current situation. Once his Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins awakened, his temperament, mental state and will had all been affected by it. He was far more cool and composed than he was before. This coupled with the fact that he had absolute trust in Yun Che meant that despite three days having passed, he still firmly believed that Yun Che would definitely have enough confidence to escape if he was willing to stay behind in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.
“Just what method can we use to blow a hole in this barrier…” Xia Yuanba stared at the barrier with furrowed brows, his mind tossing and turning as he rummaged his mind for an answer to this question.
At this moment, Feng Xue’er’s delicate body suddenly shivered fiercely as her phoenix eyes sprung open and she asked in an agitated voice, “Bulky Big Brother, did you just hear a sound just now?”
“A sound? What sound?” Xia Yuanba asked in a dazed voice, he had been deep in thought so he had not heard anything.
“It came from the barrier!” Feng Xue’er’s body descended as she shouted in an extremely emotional voice, “Big Brother Yun, is that you… Big Brother Yun, it’s definitely you, right!?”
Within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.
“Even though this barrier is a bit stronger than I had expected, in the end, it’s still possible to destroy it with the ice flame.”
Although his first attempt had ended in failure, there was no sign of disappointment on Yun Che’s face. He took two steps back and stretched out both his arms once more. His left hand burned ablaze while icy energy congealed in his right hand… However this time, he did not care about any injury he might receive, he circulated his profound energy to its strongest. The flames on his left started to burn even more intensely while icy energy began to crazily gather at his right… Even after he had gathered those energies for more than ten breaths, he still had not stopped.
“You want to conjure up a huge ice flame?” Jasmine, who had noticed what he intended to do, spoke in a serious tone, “You’re taking a completely needless risk right now! I won’t need more than one or two days to reconstitute my body! Can’t you even wait for this little bit of time!? To once again go as far as to… Your wounds aren’t even completely healed yet, your profound veins are still running on empty! So to attempt to forcibly create such a gigantic ice flame right now, you are basically gambling with your life!”
“No!” Yun Che shook his head, an extremely confident expression on his face, “If it was before, I’d indeed be gambling with my life. But right now, I am nearly one hundred percent confident that I can pull this off.”
“One hundred percent confident? Where is this confidence even coming from?” Jasmine asked suspiciously, “In the past, you have never even tried to conjure up such a huge ice flame! Let alone trying to do it in your present state!”
“When I woke up just now, I discovered that not only was my mind not exhausted, it was actually extremely clear. I even feel like my mental strength has suddenly improved by leaps and bounds. When I conjured that first ball of ice flame just now, I found that I was not mistaken. Despite the serious injuries that I sustained and the current handicap on my profound strength, haven’t you realized that the time it took to create that ice flame was even faster than usual?”
“…I also felt that it was strange that your head wasn’t feeling the least bit heavy after you woke up.” Jasmine said as she lapsed into thought for a moment. After that, she muttered to herself in a soft voice, “Could it be that after he endured that exceedingly torturous soul stealing power… his soul actually rose to a new level? Or is it… that the Dragon God Soul, Phoenix Soul and Golden Crow Soul were now even more tightly bonded with his soul?
Or could it be that… both of these things had occurred!?
“Whenever I tried to create a slightly larger ice flame in the past, self-doubt would unconsciously manifest in my heart while warning bells rang in my head. This caused me to feel like I had no chance of succeeding and that if I did try to force the issue, it would only lead to disastrous consequences for me. But this time, even though I am clearly still hurt, I am not feeling any sense of danger or any self-doubt. On the contrary, my heart is cool and composed.”
Yun Che inhaled a deep breath before he drew back both of his hand as he slowly brought the extremely intense and strong fire and ice energies together and began to merge them…
Fifteen minutes went by…
Half an hour went by…
This process had only finished once forty five minutes had passed. Yun Che opened his eyes and an icy blue flame that was a foot and a half tall silently burned in the center of his palm!
“To think that…” Jasmine sucked in a small breath, “Not only did the Netherworld Udumbara Flower not cause any permanent harm to your soul, in the end, it actually gave it a huge boost of power. You truly are a freak.”
Yun Che’s chest rose and fell rapidly. His forehead was matted in cold sweat but his expression was one of intense excitement.
A flame that was only a foot and a half tall was completely insignificant and pathetic if these were normal profound flames we were talking about. But when it came to the ice flames, this was an exceedingly terrifying notion. Even though it was silently burning in the center of Yun Che’s palms, only Yun Che knew that even though he had just created this flame, he was already starting to lose control over them.
“This time, I’m definitely going to be able to blow this barrier apart!” Yun Che muttered to himself as cautiously pushed his hands forward.
Chapter 794 - Jasmine Reconstructs Her Body
The moment the ice flame touched the barrier, it continued its inexorable journey forward, not slowing in the slightest.
The strongest isolating barrier in the entire Profound Sky Continent was being brushed aside like a weak curtain of water. It was as though an raging flame was touching cold ice, because in the blink of an eye, a huge hole had been melted in the barrier. As the ice flame bored in deeper and deeper, the hole was not only not repairing itself, it was actually slowly growing larger as the destructive power of the ice flame continued to eat away at it.
A faint beam of light started to shine through from outside the barrier. Even though it was night in the outside world, the night sky of the Profound Sky Continent was like glaring sunlight compared to the absolute darkness of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest… Without making a single sound, the ice flames had completely pierced through the isolating barrier.
Furthermore, the hole that it had made was more than two feet wide!
Even though Yun Che had been full of confidence, he had not expected his plan to go so swimmingly… because the barrier in front of him had been publicly acknowledged as the most powerful barrier in the entire Profound Sky Continent! To think that it was not even able to withstand a single strike from the ice flame! Before he had even withdrawn the hands that he had pushed out, a hole had already punched through the barrier.
“Hurry up and go!” Jasmine exclaimed.
Even though Yun Che’s heart was still in shock, his body reacted instantly. Just before the sizzling sound of the barrier repairing itself rang through the air, he had already activated Star God’s Broken Shadow as he flashed out of there like lightning.
Riiip!!
The speed at which the barrier repaired itself was incomparably fast. It was just after the instant he cleared the exit that he heard an ear-splitting thunderclap explode behind him. The hole that was made by the ice flames was swiftly closing and it looked like it was about to disappear altogether just a moment later. The only thing left in its wake were extremely fast-moving energy ripples.
The world before his eyes was no longer cloaked in inky darkness, the air around him was no longer heavy and gloomy. The cool sea breeze caused Yun Che to feel extremely refreshed. Just as his body came to a halt, he felt himself being tightly hugged by a body as soft as cotton wool.
Feng Xue’er gave a cry as she tightly hugged him, she started bawling her eyes out almost immediately after that.
Yun Che froze there for a moment, but after that, he immediately took action… Feng Xue’er must have stayed here for the past few days waiting for his return… Just like what he saw in that dreamy wonderland.
He hugged Feng Xue’er tightly as he softly whispered to her, “Xue’er, I’m sorry. I’ve made you worry for the past few days.”
Feng Xue’er leaned against his chest as she sobbed and shook her head, “As long as Big Brother Yun is okay then that’s fine… I knew Big Brother Yun would definitely make it out in one piece…”
“Brother-in-law… This is great.” Xia Yuanba had rushed over, his face flushed red with agitation and excitement. He was so emotional that he could barely speak. At this time, his expression suddenly changed as he shouted anxiously, “Brother-in-law, you’re hurt!?”
Yun Che’s aura was thin and shallow and his face was white as a sheet! His aura was half as strong as it was normally and Xia Yuanba could clearly smell blood wafting off him! It was clear that he had sustained extremely serious internal and external injuries and had lost a lot of blood as well!
“Ah?!” Feng Xue’er cried out in alarm, her petite face jerking up from Yun Che’s chest. It was only now that she noticed that his aura was weak and disordered and that his body was covered in wounds. She could even see quite a few wounds on his face that had not fully healed yet.
“Big Brother Yun, you…”
“Don’t worry.” Yun Che smiled as he waved his hand. His expression was completely relaxed and carefree as he continued, “I met with a few accidents in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, so I ended up suffering a few injuries. But the both of you should well know that I won’t be affected by injuries this light. It is only that my profound veins have been taxed strenuously, so I will need up to half a month for them to fully recover.”
“Big Brother Yun, let… let’s return to Supreme Ocean Palace first. Your wounds will definitely get better immediately.”
Tears shimmered in Feng Xue’er’s eyes, her heart in conflict between extreme joy and distress. She supported Yun Che as they flew at the most comfortable speed possible towards Supreme Ocean Palace. Xia Yuanba, who was behind them, wanted to remind her that Yun Che had absolutely no issue moving on his own but the moment the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back down instead. After thinking for a moment, he caught up to them and shouted, “Little Sister Xue’er, Brother-in-law needs to recuperate from his injuries, so we need to find a quiet and safe place for him to rest. Bring Brother-in-law to Venerable Cloud Palace. That is where the people from my Absolute Monarch Sanctuary are currently residing, so Brother-in-law will be absolutely safe there.”
“Absolute Monarch Sanctuary?” Yun Che shook his head lightly, “I think it’s better if we don’t. I don’t want anyone to disturb me during this period.”
“Brother-in-law, you don’t need to worry.” Xia Yuanba said solemnly as he slapped his chest, “I will explain it to Master and the rest of them so that no one will come and disturb Brother-in-law… and that includes even the Lord Saint Emperor himself.”
Yun Che gave it some thought before finally nodding his head and replying, “Alright then.”
Absolute Monarch Sanctuary was the head of the Four Sacred Grounds. Being beside them would indeed be the safest place on the Profound Sky Continent.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was only fifty kilometers away from Supreme Ocean Palace, so the three of them reached Supreme Ocean Palace very quickly. After that, they were ushered into Venerable Cloud Palace where Absolute Monarch Sanctuary were being housed under Xia Yuanba’s instructions, arriving at the pavilion where Xia Yuanba was staying at.
“Brother-in-law, I’ve already sent a sound transmission to my master. You can be at ease and focus on your recovery here, there definitely won’t be anyone who will disturb you.” Xia Yuanba said confidently.
“…” Yun Che glanced outside the door of the pavilion and asked with furrowed brows, “What’s going on? Why is Supreme Ocean Palace so quiet? From the moment we returned here from the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, I haven’t even spotted a single person. I did not even see the disciples who normally keep watch over Supreme Ocean Palace… Could it be due to the Devil Sword Conference that will begin once the morning comes?”
“That’s right.” Xia Yuanba said as he nodded his head, “According to what Master said, something extraordinary will happen tomorrow. The Thirteen Star Alignment, a rare occurrence that happens every ten thousand years will appear. When the appointed hour arrives, the natural yin energy on this world will start flourishing to its peak, and that will also be the time when the seal of the ‘devil sword’ will be at its weakest. And this is exactly why they chose to hold the Devil Sword Conference tomorrow.”
“Furthermore, the Devil Sword Conference has been labelled as the most important event to happen in the Profound Sky Continent for the past few thousand years, so everyone is ensuring that no mishaps happen. Due to this, no one is allowed to cause any disturbances in the twenty four hour period before the Devil Sword Conference begins. Furthermore, once it is twelve hours before the conference begins, everyone is required to stay within their own pavilions and no one is allowed to go out.
“Ah, so that explains it.” Yun Che’s brows twitched as he muttered to himself.
“So Brother-in-law can recuperate in peace here. Before the Devil Sword Conference begins, there definitely won’t be anyone who will come and disturb your rest. Actually, even if I did not send out that sound transmission, even if Master and the rest knew that you had returned, they may not come at this… extremely critical period of time to visit Brother-in-law.”
“Big Brother Yun, did you obtain the item that you wanted to get? Why did you… sustain such serious injuries?” Feng Xue’er asked, her eyes filled with worry. As one of the few people who knew Yun Che best, she also knew that Yun Che’s body was far more abnormal than a normal person. So for him to sustain such serious injuries meant that he had met with uncommon danger within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.
“I stayed behind in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest in order to wait for the Netherworld Udumbara Flower to fully bloom first before plucking it. But I did not realize that there was another extremely terrifying thing besides the Netherworld Udumbara Flower that was hidden within the darkness…” After he said those words, Yun Che suddenly felt his chest grow dull and heavy. His face suddenly flushed red as a large amount of fresh blood sprayed from his mouth.
“Big… Big Brother Yun!”
“Brother-in-law!!”
Feng Xue’er was so frightened that her pretty face lost all its color. Meanwhile, Xia Yuanba had also urgently rushed over, he was so shocked that he had nearly tripped over himself and fell to the floor. Yun Che hurriedly waved his hand as he tried to console them, “Don’t worry, it’s only some clogged up blood from my internal injuries. Now that I spat that out, I actually feel a lot better… Right now I just feel a bit weak and anemic. Once I rest for a while, I’ll be fine.”
Feng Xue’er used the sleeve of her spotless snow white clothes to wipe away the blood that stained the corner of Yun Che’s mouth. She anxiously exclaimed in a watery voice, “Then you should get some rest first Big Brother Yun. Bulky Big Brother and I will keep watch over this place… Or how about we leave Supreme Ocean Palace right now and return to Frozen Cloud Asgard?”
Xia Yuanba hurriedly said as well, “Then let me leave with the both of you as well. I’ll wait till Brother-in-law gets better before returning to Absolute Monarch Sanctuary.”
“No.” Yun Che said as he shook his head, “Now is not the time for us to return. Since we are in Supreme Ocean Palace and the Devil Sword Conference will begin once day breaks, it would be a waste for us to miss it.”
“Brother-in-law, you’re going to participate in the Devil Sword Conference? But your injuries…”
“Don’t worry, I’m only going there to be an onlooker, I won’t be trying to break the seal on the devil sword. And I believe that with the state I am in right now, no one will be so dumb as to force me to participate either.” Yun Che said with a faint smile.
Once he had heard about the true origins of the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword from the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, the Devil Sword Conference, which he initially had little interest in, became an event that he could not afford to miss.
Because the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword was a true devil sword! Furthermore, there was the devil soul of a true devil sealed inside of it… and it was the devil soul of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s son at that!
According to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s words, the devil soul within should have have been scattered to the four winds long ago. But in the end, it was still an ancient devil sword, so even if there was no devil soul within, it was very likely that there were a few mysteries hidden within that blade… Furthermore, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region had spared no expense in arranging this event, so it was very likely that they made some sort of special discovery.
Other than that, both he and Jasmine were extremely suspicious about one thing: Why did the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign say that the only way that he could save his son all those years ago was to seal his devil soul into his sword?
Xia Yuanba thought about it for a while before nodding, “Fine then, I won’t be participating in the breaking of the seal on the devil sword tomorrow either. Even if there is really some heaven-shaking secret that is hidden inside, I can hardly be bothered with it.”
Yun Che laughed as he replied, “Yuanba, you don’t need to be that considerate towards me. All of the people who are within Supreme Ocean Palace right now are totally focused on the Devil Sword Conference, so no one will have the time to come and find trouble with me.”
Yun Che paused for a moment before speaking in an apologetic tone, “Yuanba, Xue’er, I have something very important that I need to do right away. Furthermore, I can only do it if I’m alone. So I’ll have to trouble the both of you to help me keep watch outside, and no matter what you hear, you must not come in… You mustn’t let anyone else in either.”
Shock appeared on the faces of Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue’er but they did not ask Yun Che for any reasons or explanations.
“Big Brother Yun, Xue’er will be right outside. I won’t take a step further away from you.” Feng Xue’er said in a soft and gentle voice before she left the room with Xia Yuanba to keep watch over Yun Che.
The moment Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue’er left, Yun Che’s expression grew pained and he spoke in a helpless manner, “Jasmine, do you really need to start right away?”
A petite and delicate figure dressed in red appeared in front of Yun Che, her long crimson hair beautiful and dazzling. She ignored Yun Che’s words and surveyed her surroundings before floating in the air. She then moved to the innermost part of the pavilion, settling in a corner of the room that was separated by a curtain. She said in a placid tone, “This spot will do. Bring over all the required items now.”
“…” Yun Che was rendered speechless for a moment, but he still obediently did as he was told. In fact, he could understand why Jasmine seemed so anxious and impatient. It had been seven years, an entire seven years, since she had no choice but to assume the form of a soul body. So she must definitely have been dreaming about the day she could reconstitute her body, reclaiming her life, power and freedom in one fell swoop.
Now that all of the requirements had been met, she could barely wait even a breath longer.
“Jasmine, this is still Supreme Ocean Palace after all…”
“You don’t need to speak any further.” Jasmine said with a wave of her hand, a pout fixed on her tiny, milk-white face, “Anywhere would be fine to me. In a little while, I will set up an isolation barrier around this place and its strength will be tens of times stronger than the one that is set up around the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest! Even if it’s your ice flames, they would have no hope of breaking this barrier. A mere Profound Sky Continent does not have the qualifications to alarm or agitate one such as I.”
“Alright then.” Yun Che could only nod his head as he quietly sucked in a cold breath of air: A barrier that was tens of times stronger than the one around the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest…
Yun Che retrieved the two profound cores that came from Sovereign Profound Beasts and the thirty five kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal… After he thought about it for a moment, he was afraid that this might not be enough, so he took out all the Purple Veined Divine Crystals that he had stored in the Sky Poison Pearl. Finally, he cautiously fished out the four Netherworld Udumbara Flower petals that were surrounded by a green light and he gently placed them behind the Purple Veined Divine Crystals.
Nearly fifty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals were stacked together, releasing an incomparably dense and rich spirit energy. Jasmine made a quick gesture with her hand as an invisible energy completely trapped all of the spirit energy that was being released by the Purple Veined Divine Crystals, so as to prevent any outsiders from detecting it—She was naturally not worried that someone would make trouble for her, she was ensuring that she would not create any problems for Yun Che.
“Are these items truly enough?” Yun Che casually asked.
“In the end, I will also require three drops of your blood essence.” After Jasmine finished speaking, her dainty finger suddenly shot out and landed between Yun Che’s brows. Before Yun Che even had any time to react, three droplets of dark red blood had floated out from between his eyes as they hovered above Jasmine’s fingertip.
These were no ordinary droplets of blood, these were droplets of his blood essence! A person’s vital energy and innate talent would be harmed if he even lost one drop of blood essence, much less three drops. The anemic and heavily injured Yun Che suddenly lost three drops of blood essence, so his vision immediately started to swim as he stumbled backwards in a faint, nearly falling over while he was at it.
However, he had the Great Way of the Buddha so even lost blood essence could be regenerated. As a result, this loss of blood essence was far less serious than it would have been for a normal profound practitioner.
“Don’t worry, after I reconstitute my body and slowly recover my vitality and strength, I will give you a drop of Star God’s Blood as compensation.” Jasmine said calmly.
Yun Che shook his head as he grimaced, “I don’t need any compensation from you. Anyways… on the very first day we met, you already sucked out a lot of my blood. If it’s you, then even if you want all the blood in my body, I would be happy and willing to give it to you.”
“Hmph!” Jasmine gave a cold and disdainful laugh, “Starting again with your insincere and flowery words again I see. I’ll say this once more, those moves that you pull to seduce women will only work on stupid women! Don’t ever think I’ll ever fall for one of your tricks!”
Jasmine had uttered similar words countless times before and every time she had said those words, they contained a deep contempt and disdain. However this time around, even though it was as harsh and cutting as it usually was, her eyes had suddenly…
“You may withdraw now because I’m about to begin. Remember, I can’t be interrupted during this period of time. The barrier that I will set up shortly will block out everything, including light and sound. So the only one who will be able to disturb me will be you. Before I come out of the barrier myself, even if something extremely important is happening, you must not send any sound transmissions to me.”
“Also, I will still need to maintain the connection I have with your life before my body is fully reconstituted. So during this period of time, you must remember that you must definitely stay within a ten kilometer radius of me. If you have no choice but to exceed this distance, you must not exceed it for more than one hundred breaths! If not, it is possible that my soul will scatter.”
Yun Che stored those words in his heart before solemnly speaking, “You don’t need to worry, I guarantee that nothing will happen… Oh right, Jasmine, I have something that I want to ask you.”
Jasmine, “?”
Yun Che gave Jasmine a measured glance before he started to speak with a strange look in his eyes, “Since you are reconstituting your body, then is it possible to change the appearance of your new body… Err, what I’m trying to ask is this. Will your appearance be exactly the same as before after you’ve obtained your new body?”
Jasmine disdainfully turned her face away from him, “When the body and soul combines into one, the soul will form the main substance of a person while the body will merely be its container. So if your soul is destroyed but your flesh remains, it will be impossible to reform your soul. But if your soul survives while your flesh is destroyed, as long as the power of your soul is sufficiently strong, you will be able to reconstitute a new body. Furthermore, reconstituting a new body does not mean that you are borrowing a body to be reborn, it is birthed from the soul, so it will naturally be no different from the soul body of the person who is reconstituting her body!”
“So the appearance that you see right now is exactly what my new body is going to look like! I couldn’t change it even if I wanted to!”
“Ah, so that’s how it is!” Yun Che hurriedly nodded his head. A relieved look appeared on his face before he spoke sincerely, “Ah, that’s great to hear! Previously, I was worried that your appearance might change after your new body has been formed. I sure as heck don’t want my most perfect Jasmine to change in the slightest. Even if it’s the tiniest of changes, I might feel that it… wouldn’t be too good.”
“…” A strange ripple passed through Jasmine’s eyes and for some unfathomable reason, she grew distracted for a moment. After that, she turned around and faced her back towards Yun Che. With a cold snort and a wave of her tiny hand, a curtain of light suddenly materialized in front of Yun Che, blocking his view of her completely.
Yun Che unconsciously backpedaled and the moment he had come to a stop, a three meter wide square-shaped barrier had already materialized before his eyes. The barrier was a faint white color, it was simple and radiated no light and it did not give off any aura. It simply seemed to be a curtain that was erected in place.
Yun Che did not utter a single word more. He slowly withdrew from the barrier, a complex look on his face as emotions started surging in his heart.
For the past few years, Jasmine had been an inextricable part of his life. Even though he had not allowed himself to develop a habit of relying on Jasmine’s power, the time they had spent together was enough for her very presence to imperceptibly become a pillar that supported him.
From the moment Jasmine reconstituted her body, she would no longer have to rely on his life to survive and she would no longer stay within the Sky Poison Pearl. So they would no longer be able to feel each other’s presence and the sound of each other’s hearts the way they used to before, when they were bonded so tightly that they could not separate themselves even if they wanted to.
He had desperately tried to help Jasmine reconstitute her body and the moment he had obtained the Netherworld Udumbara Flower for her, his heart had been filled with a wild joy. But now that the moment they had been waiting for was at hand, he discovered that his heart was not filled with unrelenting joy. On the contrary, it was filled with a complex emotion that he found hard to put into words.
“What are you thinking…” Yun Che muttered to himself as he gave a self-deprecating chuckle, “Meeting Jasmine was the most fortunate thing to ever happen to me. Without Jasmine, I wouldn’t be the person I am today… So how can I have such selfish thoughts.”
Yun Che shook his head vigorously as he strove to clear his heart and mind of all distracting thoughts. He sat down and crossed his legs as he began to calm his heart and prepared to enter a state where he could focus on his recovery.
At this moment, the back of his right hand shone with an icy-blue light before the image of the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul slowly appeared in the air.
Yun Che grew shocked… A sound transmission that came from Frozen Cloud Asgard?
He swiftly closed his eyes and concentrated, comprehending the ice soul sound transmission that came from the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul. In a flash, his eyes shot open and he shouted as he jerked to his feet, “Wha… What!!”
Chapter 795 - A Dangerous Situation
Supreme Ocean Palace. Under the cover of night.
“What did you say? Yun Che has returned?” This report caused the Sovereign of the Seas, Qu Fengyi, to react with incredulous shock.
She had sensed that there was something weird going on with the barrier around the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest so she swiftly sent men to go investigate. But she never thought that she would receive such an amazingly shocking piece of news.
“Yun Che came back with Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s Xia Yuanba and the Divine Phoenix Sect’s Princess Snow. Right now, he is at Venerable Cloud Palace. Even though no one came out to greet him, many people observed his return. So this news will definitely spread quickly.”
A green-robed elder of Supreme Ocean Palace reported all of this to the Sovereign of the Seas in a respectful tone.
“…” The Sovereign of the Seas, Qu Fengyu, pondered silently for a brief moment before speaking in a low voice, “This sovereign personally held an audience with Yun Che a few days ago. Given his strength, there is no way he could survive in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest for three days and it is even less possible that he would be able to escape… But given the current state of affairs, it seems that the tales of his master Old Man Duotian were true after all.”
“My Lord Sovereign, since this affair involves the forbidden ground of our Supreme Ocean Palace, should I immediately summon him to see you?”
“No!” The Sovereign of the Sea, Qu Fengyu, directly rejected that proposal before continuing in a bland voice, “Even though this sovereign is extremely curious as to exactly what method he used to escape from the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, the Devil Sword Conference is at hand, and we can brook no further disturbances or incidents. We will discuss this matter again once the Devil Sword Conference has ended.”
At the same time, in another corner of Supreme Ocean Palace.
“Father, this son has something to report… Yun Che has returned! Right now he is at Venerable Cloud Palace, this son saw it with his own two eyes!”
“Oh?” Xuanyuan Wentian, who had been meditating, opened his eyes as he briefly slanted his face to the side. No shock crossed his face and he only gave a mild laugh as he replied, “Then that is truly the best news I’ve heard in awhile.I was regretting the fact that we would miss a grand spectacle at the Devil Sword Conference tomorrow. But now that things are the way they are, this regret can be forgotten.”
“Father, aren’t you at all curious as to how he escaped from the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest?” Xuanyuan Wendao asked with a mystified expression on his face, “From the moment he entered the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest up till now, it has been more than eighty hours, so how exactly did he escape from there alive!? Moreover, that barrier is something that even Father is not able to do anything about but he could actually…”
“There is no need.” Xuanyuan Wentian said in a grave tone, “In ten hours, the Devil Sword Conference will convene. I have been waiting and preparing for this day for the past one thousand years! Now that the time is finally at hand, we cannot make any errors! A momentous event draws near!”
“Yes, it is this son who has reacted impulsively and recklessly.” Xuanyuan Wendao hurriedly bowed his head before cautiously continuing, “Then do we need to send anyone to keep an eye on Yun Che?”
“There’s no need!” Xuanyuan Wentian’s brows sunk by a fraction, his eyes were as calm as still water but one could see a dreadful cold light glinting in its depths, “On the contrary, don’t give him even the smallest reason to feel suspicious at all. Let him feel safe and secure when he participates in the Devil Sword Conference tomorrow. Because if we’re missing Yun Che for the Devil Sword Conference… Hmph, then it will end up being less interesting by far!”
“Yes!” Xuanyuan Wendao gave his speedy assent before a cold laugh bubbled from his throat, “That Yun Che definitely wouldn’t even dream that Father had long ago uncovered most of his secrets! Once the Devil Sword is unsealed, the Mirror of Samsara will sooner or later become part of Father’s prized possessions.”
————————————
“When did this happen? Did anything happen to the others? Do we know who did this?”
Yun Che sent a sound transmission with extreme urgency and the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul quickly rang with a reply.
Three days ago… It had already been three days!?
Yun Che, who had originally calmed his mind so that he could begin his recovery, could no longer sit still. In a flash, his heart had become so anxious that it grew numb… Xiao Yun had disappeared three days ago and it was during this period that he had been trapped within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest!
“Jasmine, we…”
The moment the words left his mouth, Yun Che suddenly realized it… Jasmine had already begun reconstituting her body, so she definitely could not be disturbed! He was not even able to discuss anything with her right now.
Furthermore, he could not go anywhere that was outside a ten kilometer radius around Jasmine… so that meant that he definitely could not return to Floating Cloud City either!
Yun Che sucked in a deep breath as he strove to swiftly compose himself.
What had happened!? Why did Xiao Yun suddenly disappear!?
If he was alive, he was missing. If he was dead, they had not found the body. Yet they had not heard any strange or abnormal sounds before he had disappeared and they were not able to find any traces of a battle. Given the strength of Xiao Yun and Number One Under Heaven, to be able to kidnap Xiao Yun while rendering him powerless to resist and escaping the notice of Number One Under Heaven, the person who performed the deed was definitely at the level of a Monarch!!
Within the Profound Sky Continent, besides the Four Sacred Grounds, the only other power that had Monarchs in their ranks was the Divine Phoenix Sect… and one Fen Juechen. Given Fen Juechen’s character and temperament, he definitely would not do such a thing. The Divine Phoenix Sect also did not have any reason to do such a thing. So that only left the Four Sacred Grounds!
However, why would any one of the Four Sacred Grounds make a move against Xiao Yun?
Could it be that Sun Moon Divine Hall had used some means to discover that I had manufactured this “Old Man Duotian”, so they decided to carry out their vengeance and kidnapped Xiao Yun to threaten me?
No, that cannot be right! If that was truly the case, given Sun Moon Divine Hall’s strength, they would be able to strike against me easily if they had seen through my deception. They would not need to make this kind of move. Even if they really wanted to capture someone to use against me, Grandfather or Little Aunt would have been far more suitable targets. No matter what, it should not have been Xiao Yun.
Right… why was it Xiao Yun in the first place!?
Yun Che’s brows sank even further. The more composure he regained, the more he realized how bad the current situation was.
Could it be that Xiao Yun’s identity… was exposed?
No… there was no reason for that to happen! Among Xiao Yun, Number One Under Heaven and Number Seven Under Heaven, Number One Under Heaven and Number Seven Under Heaven still possessed the physical characteristics of the elven race. Even though their disguise had been perfect, there was still a chance that they would be exposed. Compared to the both of them, there should have been no way anyone could tell Xiao Yun had come from the Illusory Demon Realm!
Just because he was a completely new face did not mean that someone would be able to tell that he was from the Illusory Demon Realm!
Besides, Xiao Yun was a naturally cautious person, so he had not even used the slightest bit of profound energy while he had been residing in Floating Cloud City.
Furthermore, during the many visits he had paid to Floating Cloud City over the past few months, he had not detected anyone spying on them or taking notice of them… He just occasionally sensed Fen Juechen’s aura every now and then.
“Could it be…” The most dreadful and terrible possibility appeared in Yun Che’s mind, “There are people from the Four Sacred Grounds that are still within the Illusory Demon Realm…”
Yun Che’s chest rose and fell heavily as he sucked in a deep breath. After that he raised his right hand and summoned out the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul.
“Senior Master Murong, find a way to inform Little Aunt and the rest that Xiao Yun should be safe and sound, I have already managed to roughly guess his current location. Tomorrow, I will be bringing him home, so put their minds at ease for me. Also…” Yun Che paused for a moment, his voice growing heavier after that, “Make sure that my Grandfather, Little Aunt and Seventh Sister are all congregated within my Grandfather’s courtyard after noon tomorrow. Until I appear, make sure that they don’t even take a step outside those premises.”
Blue light flashed as his words were transmitted to Frozen Cloud Asgard which was fifty thousand kilometers away. Yun Che glanced at the isolation barrier that surrounded Jasmine as he muttered to himself in an extremely gloomy voice, “Why did it just have to be at this particular time. Haah…”
“It looks like I will have no choice but to participate in the Devil Sword Conference tomorrow after all!”
“But I have been far too negligent this time around. I actually overlooked the fact that if the Four Sacred Grounds had the power to invade Demon Imperial City, then they would naturally be capable of silently infiltrating the Illusory Demon Realm as well… Besides, they still have a spy in Duke Ming!”
“Right now, I can only hope that the matter regarding the Primordial Profound Ark has not been exposed. Or else…”
The curtain of night gradually retreated as the sky started to grow bright once more.
The Supreme Ocean Palace which had lain silent for an entire night was still exceptionally tranquil. But there was an abnormally strong profound energy that was surging in the air above it, it was almost as if it was portending that some major event was about to occur.
The surging and tossing profound energy completely roused Yun Che from his meditation. He slowly opened his eyes before inhaling a small breath of air.
Last night, he had only been thinking of the best method he could use to recover from some of his wounds. But things had turned out contrary to his wishes. First, Jasmine had left his body, then after that, he found out that Xiao Yun had disappeared. This matter was so serious that he could not completely focus for the rest of the night, so his wounds recovered far slower than they normally would.
Behind the screen that lay at the corner of the pavilion, Jasmine’s barrier was still completely still and silent. For the past seven years, he would always discuss things with Jasmine first whenever a major event had occurred. This was the first time Jasmine was not by his side so his heart was filled with an emptiness that far exceeded what he had been expecting… In fact, he was even feeling a bit bewildered and distracted at the moment.
He got up and opened the door, striding out of the pavilion. The first thing he saw was Feng Xue’er and Xia Yuanba who had kept watch all night.
“Big Brother Yun, have your injuries gotten better?” Feng Xue’er drifted close to him like a floating flower as she asked in a concerned voice.
“Mn, they’ve gotten much better.” Yun Che said as he surveyed his surroundings. He discovered that the entire palace was empty and devoid of people so he immediately asked, “Has your master and the rest of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary left for the Devil Sword Conference already?”
“Yes!” Xia Yuanba nodded his head as he replied, “Master and the rest departed from here about an hour ago. Master initially wanted to pay a visit to Brother-in-law and the other Spiritual Masters and elders also wanted to see Brother-in-law as well. But I told them that you had been seriously injured and you needed a quiet place to rest, so they did not press the issue.”
“One hour ago? The Devil Sword Conference shouldn’t start for a while, correct?” Yun Che asked as his brows twitched.
“It’ll be roughly an hour’s time before it begins… Brother-in-law, your expression is rather peculiar today. Has something happened?” Xia Yuanba blurted out after he observed Yun Che’s current expression.
“…Let’s be off then. We will go to the Devil Sword Conference as well.” Yun Che did not explain as he grasped Feng Xue’er’s hand and began walking outside.
After they had exited Venerable Cloud Palace, Yun Che was about to ask Xia Yuanba where the Devil Sword Sword Conference was being held when he saw Spiritual Master Ancient Blue standing in the courtyard. He was dressed all in white, holding a white horsetail whisk in his hand, a faint and serene smile on his face.
“Master, why are you still here? Shouldn’t you have already gone to the Sea God Arena?” Xia Yuanba asked in astonishment.
Spiritual Master Ancient Blue gave a faint laugh before his eyes turned to Yun Che, “I thought about it and decided it would be best to go with you. Little friend Yun, it looks like your injuries are indeed serious and your profound energy has greatly weakened as well. But it is good that your wounds have already stabilized and it will only require a period of quiet convalescence for you to fully recover. During this Devil Sword Conference, you should just play the role of an observer, there is no need for you to force yourself into action.”
Yun Che strode forward as he replied, “I thank Senior Ancient for his concern. Because I am currently injured, even though I am staying within Venerable Cloud Palace for a while, I have not yet been able to visit all the seniors from Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, so I’ll have to ask for your forgiveness in that regard.”
“It matters not.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue laughed merrily as he shook his head. He did not probe into how and why Yun Che had sustained those wounds and how he had been able to escape from the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest alive. He raised his head slightly to look at the sky, “In about an hour’s time, the mysterious phenomenon of all thirteen stars aligning will appear in the blue dome of the heavens. This will also be the most critical period of time when it comes to the matter of unravelling the mysteries of the devil sword. Even though it is still rather early, all of the heroes of the Profound Sky Continent have already gathered at the Sea God Arena. We should start making a move as well.”
The sun burned brightly in the blue sky above and there was nothing unusual happening at all.
The floating Ocean Palace still remained deathly silent, and they did not see a single person as they made their way to the Sea God Arena. In front of them, an incredibly astonishing aura radiated from afar… That was definitely the Sea God Arena where all the peak powerhouses of the Profound Sky Continent were gathered. It was also the place where the Devil Sword Conference was being held. It was roughly six to seven kilometers away from their current location.
This distance somewhat comforted Yun Che.
Chapter 796 - The Young Master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region
“Oh? So it is Senior Ancient.”
Just as the four of them had taken to the air, they heard a clear and bright voice ring out from their right.
A young-looking man who was dressed in green appeared. He was of average build and his looks were ordinary, it could be said that this man did not possess a single distinctive feature. His profound strength aura placed him at the latter stage of the Tyrant Profound Realm, but even in this Supreme Ocean Palace that was filled with strong individuals, his countenance was still filled with an unrestrained pride and haughtiness.
He unhurriedly took to the air and flew towards them. He arrived in front of Spiritual Master Ancient Blue as he cupped his hands and greeted him, “This junior greets you.”
“Ah, so it was the Young Sword Master.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue gave an imperceptible nod of his head as he replied in an admiring voice, “I haven’t seen you in just slightly over a decade but the cultivation of the Young Sword Master has actually improved to this extent. Your esteemed father must definitely be satisfied with your progress.”
The three words “Young Sword Master” caused Yun Che and Xia Yuanba’s brows to twitch.
The young master of the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region… Xuanyuan Wendao!
“Hahahaha.” The young man only gave a great laugh before he replied, “The praise of Senior Ancient Blue causes this junior to feel extremely ashamed. Compared to your disciple Junior Brother Xia, junior’s cultivation is like the weak glow of a firefly against the light of the luminous moon. It’s not even worth mentioning.”
Even though his words were modest and self-deprecating, his tone was still filled with a haughty arrogance. His eyes swept across Yun Che, Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue’er and his smile deepened even further, “Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s Xia Yuanba, Divine Phoenix Sect’s Princess Snow and Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Yun Che. Your names have shaken the Profound Sky Continent and you are publicly acknowledged as the three strongest people of the young generation. This humble Xuanyuan Wendao of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region has long been fascinated by the three of you and I never thought that I would be able to see all of you at the same time today. It has truly been my lucky day.”
Xia Yuanba shuffled forward and he was about to exchange pleasantries with Xuanyuan Wendao, but it was as if Xuanyuan Wendao had not seen his actions. His eyes remained fixed on Feng Xue’er as he said in a self-serving manner, “I have especially heard that Princess Snow not only has startling talent but that her beauty is also capable of bringing about the downfall of countries, possessing the title of the ‘number one beauty in the Profound Sky Continent’. For your heavenly features to be concealed by a mere gauze, for a piece of cloth to hold back such brilliance, it is truly a regrettable thing. Is it possible for you to do me the honor of allowing me to witness the beautiful face of the number one beauty in the Profound Sky Continent?”
When it came to profound strength cultivation, any one of Yun Che’s three companions were far stronger than Xuanyuan Wendao. However, Xuanyuan Wendao was not the least bit respectful towards any of them. Astonishingly, he behaved as if his behavior was merely natural and nothing out of the ordinary.
Because he was Xuanyuan Wentian’s son, the Young Sword Master of the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, the future master of a Sacred Ground!
If he was simply being haughty and proud, it could still be overlooked because of his exalted status. But his attitude and the manner in which he spoke to Feng Xue’er was plainly rude!
And his attitude even seemed to be colored by contempt and provocation.
Spiritual Master Ancient Blue’s brows twitched as he turned to the side but he did not speak. Besides his Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, the other three Sacred Grounds, Supreme Ocean Palace, Sun Moon Divine Hall, and Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, all had their own young masters. Among these three young masters, Xuanyuan Wendao possessed the most shrewdness and was also the hardest to pin down… Just like his father, Xuanyuan Wentian.
However, he was convinced that given Yun Che’s capability, he would be able to easily deal with the provocations of Xuanyuan Wendao.
Xia Yuanba’s brows jumped and it seemed as if his rage had been triggered. If it was any other person who was accompanying him, he would scarcely be bothered to even notice this Xuanyuan Wendao. But since he also seemed to be targeting Yun Che and Feng Xue’er, his rage practically shot through the roof in a mere instant… he did not care if this Xuanyuan Wendao was a Young Sword Master or whatever.
Feng Xue’er replied in a calm and gentle voice, “Xue’er’s visage is fleeting and transient, it would not please you to look upon it. It will greatly disappoint the Young Sword Master.”
“Of course my Xue’er has a face that can bring about the downfall of nations.” Just as Feng Xue’er had stopped speaking, Yun Che had begun to speak in a calm and clear manner. He crossed both hands across his chest and even though he was speaking to Xuanyuan Wendao, Yun Che’s eyes were fixed on the ground as he refused to even look at him, “It’s just that if you really want to take a look, then this humble one only has one word for you.”
“Oh?” Xuanyuan Wendao asked in an intrigued tone, “What advice does Asgard Master Yun have for me?”
Yun Che’s eyes were still fixed to the ground as his mouth curved into a smile that was not a smile. His voice was as cold and clear as water:
“Scram!”
That one word caused the horsetail whisk in Spiritual Master Ancient Blue’s hand to tremble slightly while both Feng Xue’er and Xia Yuanba had nearly jumped in shock. “Hahahaha…” Xuanyuan Wendao was stunned for a moment but he did not grow angry instead he started laughing loudly, “I have long heard that Asgard Master Yun was a person whose arrogance reached the heavens and who feared nothing under them. Even my Mighty Heavenly Sword Region is of no significance to him. Now that I have met you in person, I see that all the rumors were indeed true. No wonder two of the elders of my Mighty Heavenly Sword Region were pathetically flipped upside down by Asgard Master Yun. I even heard that the beloved daughter of our Ninth Elder nearly died at your hands.”
“Heh.” Yun Che gave a cold and low laugh before replying, “Since you know all of this, then why haven’t you taken a hike yet!? There are no guarantees that I won’t bury you right here and now!”
Xuanyuan Wendao’s expression finally underwent a small change.
He could faintly feel that Yun Che’s words were not pure intimidation or bravado, but they truly indicated that there was a possibility that he would kill him right here and now!
Given Yun Che’s power, killing him would be as easy as squashing an ant!
Even though Xuanyuan Wentian had warned him to not come into contact with Yun Che before the Devil Sword Conference began and to not give him any reason to feel suspicious, the moment he saw Yun Che, he could not resist the urge to show off his might and prestige as the Young Sword Master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. Half of it was because he pitied the Yun Che who was about to become their plaything and the other half was so he could look upon the true features of Feng Xue’er, the person who was said to be the “number one beauty in the Profound Sky Continent”.
But Xuanyuan Wendao had forgotten one important thing from all the rumors that described Yun Che, because what all the rumors mentioned about him was that he was “a lunatic who was capable of doing anything”!
Killing the young master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region… This was something that no one would dare to do and it was even something that no one would dare to talk or even think about.
But Yun Che was definitely an exception to this rule!
He was even capable of taking on the entire Divine Phoenix Sect all by himself! For him to suddenly kill the young master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region within Supreme Ocean Palace… He was definitely capable of doing that!
As his heart began to shake with fear and terror, Xuanyuan Wendao’s aura swiftly grew much weaker. His insulting haughtiness had been completely punctured by Yun Che’s words. His face was fixed in a frozen smile as he replied, “Since Asgard Master Yun is not being welcoming towards this humble one, then it’s fine! Farewell!”
It was clear that Xuanyuan Wendao had been terrified, because when he faced Yun Che’s words and his faint killing intent, Xuanyuan Wendao, who was normally not even afraid of the Four Holy Masters, did not even dare to say anything nasty before he left. He was afraid of provoking a “lunatic” like Yun Che who did not follow any of the rules of common sense.
Xuanyuan Wendao had flown a good distance away before he turned around and said in a bland voice, “Asgard Master Yun, I also forgot to congratulate you on making it out of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest alive. Because it would truly be a pity if you missed this Devil Sword Conference as a result. I believe this Devil Sword Conference will be one of the most unforgettable events of your life.”
Xuanyuan Wendao’s expression instantly turned sinister the moment he turned his face away. He viciously muttered to himself, “This young master has lived for so many years but I have yet to see a fellow as arrogant as he is!”
“Yun Che… This young master originally held some pity in his heart towards you. But since you are actively courting death, this young master will be generous enough to personally bestow upon you the fate you so richly deserve!”
Xuanyuan Wendao pathetically left the scene after that. Xia Yuanba asked Yun Che in a shocked voice, “Brother-in-law, is there some grievance between him and you?”
Spiritual Master Ancient Blue also turned his face towards them.
“…” Yun Che gave a deep sigh before slowly shaking his head, “Let’s make our way to the Sea God Arena first, you will very soon… understand exactly what is going on.”
“Ah!” Xia Yuanba nodded his head before exclaiming, “Brother-in-law, that person is the young master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, a future master of a Sacred Ground. I reckon that Brother-in-law is the only person on this earth who would dare speak to him in such a way… Moreover, I could sense that Brother-in-law truly wanted to take action and kill him just now.”
“Let’s be off.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue said, “From the aura that is radiating from our destination, I can sense that most of the heroes of the realm have already gathered in that place. So even if we arrived now, we would still be rather late.”
The Platform, otherwise knows as the “ Island”. It was named in such a way because it floated in the heart of Supreme Ocean Palace, it was a floating island which was hovered higher than all the other floating islands. This place was normally a testing ground where the disciples of Supreme Ocean Palace would compete against one another but because it had been chosen as the place where the Devil Sword Conference would be held, they had started preparing this place months in advance.
The Sea God Arena was surrounded by tens of thousands of seats. These seats were not truly erected and fixed to the ground, instead they were floating in place. Even though they hovered in the empty air, they were supported by some invisible force, and they were stable and unmoving. In fact, even if a strong profound practitioner wanted to destroy them, they would not find it an easy task.
The closer they drew to the Sea God Arena, the more astonishing the aura that came from those powerhouses became. Whether it was Yun Che, Xia Yuanba or Feng Xue’er… or anyone who had come to participate in the Devil Sword Conference, this was the first time in their lives that they had witnessed so many experts gathered in one place.
“What an alarming atmosphere!” Yun Che exclaimed.
“That’s only natural.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue’s expression was also colored with surprise. Even though he had lived for more than a thousand years, this was also the first time he had witnessed such an astonishing spectacle, “Five hundred Monarchs and six thousand Overlords of the Profound Sky Continent have been gathered for this Devil Sword Conference. This event is so grand that it is completely unprecedented.”
“Ah?” Feng Xue’er let out a startled gasp, “Five hundred Monarchs… six thousand Overlords…”
Yun Che also sucked in a breath of cold air before speaking in a low voice, “So all of the Monarchs and powerful Overlords in the Profound Sky Continent must be gathered in this place.”
Before he had reached the level of Monarch, he had definitely never imagined and would never have believed that there were actually five hundred Monarchs in the Profound Sky Continent, individuals who represented the very peak of power within the land.
“That is right.” Xia Yuanba nodded his head, “Almost all of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s Monarchs and Overlords who are at the sixth level and above have gathered here today. There are only three lower ranking elders who stayed behind to guard our Sacred Ground. The other Sacred Grounds have more or less made the same arrangements. The Divine Phoenix Sect should also have mobilized all of their Monarchs… even Little Sister Xue’er’s great grandfather has come to this place.”
“Great grandfather?” Yun Che’s face was shocked, “Xue’er, is this the person that you told me about before? Senior… Feng Zukui?”
“Mn!” Feng Xue’er lightly nodded her head, “Great Grandfather is normally meditating at a hidden location and he very rarely makes an appearance. So I didn’t think that I’d see even Great Grandfather here this time.”
“Heh heh.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue gave a tepid laugh before speaking, “For profound practitioners who have reached the level of Monarch, the words “secrets of the Divine Profound” is an enticement that none of them can resist… Even if they know that it is extremely likely that it is a lie.”
The Platform was already right before their eyes and they could see thousands of people seated on those floating seats. Even the most unimpressive individual in this group was someone who was able to shake the heavens and the earth if they were among the Seven Nations.
“Little friend Yun, the seats of the Devil Sword Conference are organized according to the powers and groups who are gathered here. You have come here on representing Frozen Cloud Asgard but you have come here by yourself and to sit by yourself would simply be too cold and cheerless. So would you like to sit with our Absolute Monarch Sanctuary?” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue said with a faint laugh.
Yun Che thought about it for a split second before nodding his head appreciatively, “Then this junior gladly accepts your invitation.”
“Xue’er, I’ll be sitting with Yuanba over where the people of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary are seated later. You should return to your royal father’s side for now.” Yun Che turned towards Feng Xue’er as he spoke, his words causing both Xia Yuanba and Spiritual Master Ancient Blue to wear shocked looks on their faces.
“Ah? But I want to be with Big Brother Yun.” Feng Xue’er said in a mystified voice.
“I know.” Yun Che replied with a faint smile, “But you are still a member of the Divine Phoenix Sect after all and you are even the Divine Phoenix Sect’s most important Princess Snow. The Devil Sword Conference has gathered all of the strongest profound practitioners and powers within the Profound Sky Continent. If you are seen sitting with another power by all of these people, it will definitely cause the Divine Phoenix Sect to lose face and the mood of your royal father and all your clansmen will definitely be affected. So…”
Yun Che’s words sounded perfectly reasonable so Feng Xue’er was momentarily left at a loss, but after that she cheerfully smiled and said, “I’ll listen to Big Brother Yun. Big Brother Yun isn’t only good to Xue’er but he also thinks of Xue’er’s sect as well. If Royal Father and the others hear about this, they will definitely be very moved as well.”
The four of them quickly flew to the Sea God Arena. Feng Xue’er detected and followed the Phoenix auras that were radiating from the seats and she very quickly found the Divine Phoenix Sect. She descended to them and sat at Feng Hengkong’s side.
Under the direction of Spiritual Master Ancient Blue, Yun Che was seated among the people of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary. He sat with Xia Yuanba in the very last row.
As expected, the three of them had instantly drawn the attention of all the strong individuals that were gathered there… the one who drew the most attention of all was Yun Che. Under the riveted gazes of all who were present, the entire gathering instantly fell silent.
Chapter 797 - Devil Sword Conference (1)
There were over five hundred people from Absolute Monarch Sanctuary who were seated with him. Yun Che used his spiritual perception to quickly sweep the vicinity and even though he was already prepared for the result, he still felt a jolt of shock shoot through his body. If he did not count Xia Yuanba within these five hundred odd people, there were actually still one hundred and sixty three Monarchs among them!
The other four hundred odd people were all Overlords who were at the seventh level or above!
This was the Absolute Monarch Sanctuary who was not only the head of the Four Sacred Grounds but also had a legacy which had lasted for ten thousand years!!
It would require at least six or seven Guardian Families of the Illusory Demon Realm to combat just one Absolute Monarch Sanctuary.
After Spiritual Master Ancient Blue had taken his seat, the first row was filled with just twelve people!
Every single one of these twelve people were dressed similarly, all of them had white hair and white beards, they all held a horsetail whisk in one hand. All of them exuded extremely robust and mighty auras, especially the three who were seated in the very center of the first row. When Yun Che’s spiritual perception came into contact with the auras of these three people, it felt as if he had been drawn into a boundless ocean, a vast expanse whose limits he could not see.
These three people…
“The twelve people who are seated at the very front are the Twelve Spiritual Masters of our Absolute Monarch Sanctuary.” After Xia Yuanba noticed the direction of Yun Che’s gaze, he bent down and whispered in his ear, “The three people seated in the very center are the ones that I mentioned before. Spiritual Master Bitter Agony, Spiritual Master Nine Lamentations and Spiritual Master Detached Heart. The three other level ten Monarchs that exist within Absolute Monarch Sanctuary other than the Lord Saint Emperor!”
Yun Che faintly nodded his head and said, “Experts who are at this level have profound energy that is as fierce as lightning and as strong as mountains. But it seems like the powerhouses who belong to Absolute Monarch Sanctuary are a different breed from the rest.”
“That is because the core of our Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s profound art is something called the ‘Sacred Heart’. The mightier your profound strength is and the more you comprehend that profound art, the fewer worldly desires and passions you will have.” Xia Yuanba replied before whispering something else, “Actually within Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, I am considered a complete freak as well.”
“Purging your worldly desires and clearing your heart?” At that moment, Yun Che remembered that Absolute Monarch Sanctuary had also ben among the powers that had invaded the Illusory Demon Realm. After which he gave a faint smile, “Perhaps most of their worldly desires and passions may fade but their lust for profound strength was not deadened in the slightest. Otherwise they would not have come out in force to participate in this Devil Sword Conference.”
When he had observed the Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s Twelve Spiritual Masters, a few hundred threads of profound energy that originated from the members of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary had also swept across his body. However, nobody came forward to speak with him and none of the Twelve Spiritual Masters or the elders of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary who were sitting in front turned around to look at him. All of their attention was focused on the Devil Sword Conference that was to be held below them.
“Brother-in-law, there’s something that I don’t understand.” Xia Yuanba whispered to Yun Che, “Why did you ask Little Sister Xue’er to separate from us?”
He naturally did not believe that Yun Che had done all of this for the sake of the Divine Phoenix Sect and their dignity.
Yun Che inhaled deeply before he faintly closed his eyes and sent Xia Yuanba a focused sound transmission, “Xiao Yun has been missing for the last three days.”
“What!” Xia Yuanba was extremely shocked and he nearly jumped to his feet but he maintained his posture and hurriedly sent a sound transmission back, “What exactly happened? Who did it?”
“Given the ability of Xiao Yun, his wife and Number One Under Heaven who was watching over them, there are not many people in the Profound Sky Continent who could steal Xiao Yun away soundlessly and without leaving a trace.”
Xia Yuanba’s brows sunk, “The Four Great Sacred Grounds! Could it be Mighty Heavenly Sword Region!?”
He finally begun to understand why Yun Che had been so hard and cold towards Xuanyuan Wendao.
“In all likelihood.” Yun Che faintly sighed, “When we met Xuanyuan Wentian on the way to the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, the look he had given me and the words he had spoken made me feel like something fishy was going on.”
“Outrageous!” Xia Yuanba balled his fists in rage, the green veins on his forehead standing out, “In the end, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region is still one of the Four Great Sacred Grounds. To think that they would do such thing, eh? No, that’s not right. Why would they even kidnap Xiao Yun in the first place? What reason would they have?”
“It is very likely that my status as a son of the Illusory Demon Realm’s Yun Family has been discovered. So they are also likely aware of Xiao Yun’s status as well. Other than that, there is no other reason I can think of right now.” Yun Che said in a low voice.
These words caused Xia Yuanba to suddenly realize just how serious the current situation had become. It was definitely no ordinary situation right now. He grabbed Yun Che’s shoulders while he whispered in an anxious voice, “Since it’s very likely your identity has been exposed, you can’t stay here any longer! You should know that the Illusory Demon Realm is a place that has been demonized in the Profound Sky Continent. Furthermore, all the heroes of the realm have been gathered here today. If this matter gets exposed publicly, you will be attacked from all sides!”
“I know but I can’t abandon Xiao Yun.”
These words caused Xia Yuanba’s heart to go cold. He immediately understood that as long as this reason remained, there was nothing he could say that would convince Yun Che to leave.
“Yuanba, you don’t need to be too worried.” Yun Che said in a calm manner, “The situation may not be as bad as it looks. I still have the Primordial Profound Ark with me. As long as its existence isn’t exposed as well, I will be able to use it to make complete withdrawal, no matter what happens. So let’s just quietly observe the situation for now.”
“However, if the worst case scenario does happen, you must remember to keep your distance from me Yuanba! Don’t forget, the other three Sacred Grounds are hatefully jealous that Absolute Monarch Sanctuary has gotten their hands on a disciple who possesses the Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins. Even within Absolute Monarch Sanctuary itself, those foster children of the Saint Emperor and their supporters definitely view you as a thorn in their side. If my identity is really exposed to the world and you attempt to protect me, they will be able to label you as a ‘demon’ as well. So at that time, you definitely mustn’t…”
At this time, Yun Che’s brows suddenly furrowed and his eyes instantly went cold. This was because he felt an icy-cold killing intent lock on to his body.
“Yun Che, you little punk! Hand over your life!!”
The sudden thunderous outburst shocked all the powerhouses that were present. A green-robed old man had flown up from the seats that were to the right of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary and he was swooping towards Yun Che like a great eagle.
Furthermore, Yun Che had never seen this person before.
This matter had happened too abruptly. Moreover, no one had expected that someone would dare to cause trouble at the venue the Devil Sword Conference was being held. Given that Absolute Monarch Sanctuary was seated right next to the seats where the interloper had emerged from, the green-robed old man was practically in front of Yun Che seconds after his furious shout had pierced the air. His profound energy turned into a sword as he prepared to deal a fatal blow to Yun Che. Even if other people wanted to stop him, they would not have the opportunity to.
Before Yun Che had even moved, Xia Yuanba had exploded into a flurry of violence. He let out a furious yell as his fist exploded outwards.
Boom!!
A ring of energy pulsed outwards from the point of impact as it tore apart the clouds above. The powers of two Monarchs smashed against one another but the deadlock would not last for long. Xia Yuanba’s face was dark and overcast while alarm had appeared on the face of the green-robed old man. It was as if he could scarcely believe that his power had been so easily blocked by a junior like Xia Yuanba.
“Get lost!!”
Xia Yuanba gave another furious yell as his already thick and muscular arms grew even thicker. The power exploding out from his fist instantly transformed from a windstorm into a hurricane.
Bang!!
The sword beam that the green-robed old man had made out of profound energy was instantly shattered. It was as if his entire body had been smashed by a gigantic hammer as he was thrown backwards tens of meter before he could bring his body to a halt. The green-robed old man’s face had gone white as sheet after he had taken that blow.
Furthermore, Xia Yuanba had only pushed back a little. He advanced with a as the exploding energies that swirled around his body caused countless profound practitioners to hold their breath in amazement. There were also many of them who had gone pale with shock, mirroring the reaction of the green-robed old man.
Even though Yun Che did not recognize this green-robed old man, his name was known throughout the Four Great Sacred Grounds.
This was an elder of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region! Furthermore, he was ranked within the top ten elders of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region!
His profound strength cultivation was at the seventh level of the Sovereign Profound Realm!
Yet he had been blown away by a single punch from Xia Yuanba, ceding the advantage to him!
Countless deeply shocked gazes landed on Xia Yuanba’s body as more than a few people sucked in a cold breath of air. Only the strongest of the strong within the Profound Sky Continent had the privilege to enter the Sea God Arena. So everyone here had naturally heard the news that a disciple who possessed the Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins had appeared in Absolute Monarch Sanctuary. Furthermore, that disciple had become a Monarch when he was barely twenty years of age.
However all of this was just hearsay and many people were witnessing the reality of Xia Yuanba for the first time.
What just became a Monarch!? He was able to force a level seven Monarch back with a blow of his fist, so his strength was clearly at the latter stages of the Sovereign Profound Realm!
Even within the Four Great Sacred Grounds, that was the domain of the absolute strongest!
He was already so terrifying at a tender age of twenty, so no one was able to imagine what kind of monster he would be one hundred years later! Among the disciples of similar age in the other three Sacred Grounds, they would not be able to find a single person who was fit to even carry his shoes, much less be compared to him!
All the twelve Spiritual Masters of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary turned their heads and silently nodded. Their expressions were devoid of shock and only faint smiles and a vivid appreciation and admiration could be seen on their faces. They were all pleased that Xia Yuanba’s profound strength had improved by leaps and bounds once again within this short period of time.
Spiritual Master Ancient Blue slowly stood up and spoke in a calm and unhurried manner, “Xuanyuan Jue, as an elder of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, what reason would provoke you to suddenly raise your hand against a junior?”
The name Xuanyuan Jue caused Yun Che’s brows to twitch: It was him after all!
The Ninth Elder of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, Xuanyuan Jue! Xuanyuan Yufeng’s father, Ling Yun and Ling Jie’s grandfather!
“Hmph!” After being beaten back by Xia Yuanba’s fist, the shock in Xuanyuan Jue’s heart had long ago exceeded his rage but if he retreated just like this, he would definitely lose all of his dignity. He stared at Yun Che before roaring in rage, “This little punk Yun Che not only harmed two elders of our Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, he even made a move to kill my beloved daughter before. If I don’t rip him to pieces today, how can I still call myself a father!?”
Yun Che still remained seated while a cold smile spread across his face, “Xuanyuan Yufeng’s heart was venomous and wicked while her methods were sinister and despicable! If not for the fact that she was Ling Jie’s mother, even killing her ten times over would not allow me to fully vent my hatred towards her! In the end, I spared her life but if you’re not grateful to me, that’s fine. But to think that you actually had the face to bark wildly in front of me right now!”
“You’re looking for death, you young punk!” Yun Che’s words had undoubtedly added fuel to the fire, causing Xuanyuan Jue to become even more enraged.
“I would request that the two gentlemen here let their anger subside.”
A calm and languid voice rang out from where Supreme Ocean Palace was seated. Zi Ji slowly stood to face him, a bland smile on his face, “The grievances that the two of you have against each other isn’t something that an outsider should get involved in. All the heroes of the realm have gathered here today for one thing and one thing alone. And that is the Devil Sword Conference. So this matter brooks no further delay. Furthermore, even if it was not for the sake of the Devil Sword Conference but as all of you are honored guests of Supreme Ocean Palace, we are naturally unwilling to see a single one of our honoured guests encounter any distress. So I would have to request that two of you show this old man some face. Even though you have a great grievance against each other, I would request that you settle it after the both of you have left Supreme Ocean Palace.”
After being blown away by Xia Yuanba’s fist, Xuanyuan Jue’s dignity had already gone down the drain. It was hard to get off the back of a tiger but Zi Ji’s words had undoubtedly given him a pretext to back down gracefully. Xuanyuan Jue flung out the sleeve of his robe as he gave a furious snort, “Fine! For the sake of Zi Ji, I will let this young punk live for a few more days. Yun Che, you young punk! I heard that your master is the Old Man Duotian who should have returned to the dust many ages ago and that he has the ability to traverse the heavens and divide the earth… hahahaha. Even if it was the Heavenly King himself, I wouldn’t be afraid of him, much less some Old Man Duotian! But I do want to see just how he will keep you safe from me once the time comes!”
Yun Che, “…”
“Ridiculous!” Xia Yuanba said in a contemptuous voice, “If you want to touch a hair on my Brother-in-law’s head, you’ll have to get past me first! It’s too bad that you can’t even beat a junior like me. To think that your sense of shame would be so lacking that you would even dare to challenge my Brother-in-law’s master! Aren’t you afraid that you’ll become the laughing stock of the entire profound world!?”
“You!” Xuanyuan Jue stared at Xia Yuanba as he nearly spat a mouthful of blood out.
“Yuanba, do not be disrespectful.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue chided him in a placid voice.
Chapter 798 - Devil Sword Conference (2)
Xuanyuan Wendao took to the skies and arrived at Xuanyuan Jue’s side, “Ninth Elder, this isn’t the time to settle your personal grievances. Let’s speak of this again once the Devil Sword Conference has ended.”
He cupped his hands towards where Absolute Monarch Sanctuary was seated before saying, “The Ninth Elder loves his daughter with all of his heart. So in a fit of passion, he disturbed everyone from Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, I beg for your forgiveness on his behalf… Ninth Elder, let’s return to our seats.”
He gave Yun Che a bland look before pulling Xuanyuan Jue back towards where Mighty Heavenly Sword Region was seated.
“Ninth Elder, you are being too rash! Father already gave strict orders that no one is allowed to make trouble with Yun Che before the Devil Sword Conference begins!” Xuanyuan Wendao said in his sound transmission to Xuanyuan Jue.
“Hmph! I simply can’t understand this! Our Sword Master has clearly already uncovered all of his secrets so why are we still acting so skittishly!?” Xuanyuan Jue shot back, his rage coming to full boil.
“Father is not scared of Yun Che, but there is a very important reason for our current actions and orders. If you had really killed Yun Che, that would have wrecked Father’s grand plan! At that time…” Xuanyuan Wendao gave Xuanyuan Jue a bland look, his eyes filled with warning.
Xuanyuan Jue fought back a faint shiver that ran through his body.
“That old villain! Despite being an elder of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, he still dared to publicly attack Brother-in-law in this place!” Xia Yuanba said in a hot-tempered voice.
“Don’t bother with him. On the contrary, these are the kind of people that you don’t need to be afraid of.” Yun Che’s brows sank as he thought about the worst case scenario and simulated plans that would allow him to respond.
Because of the previous matter, the Sea God Arena was no longer calm and quiet. Instead, it began to buzz with the sound of conversation. Yun Che could guess what these people were talking about even if he could not hear them: Topics like Xia Yuanba, the grievance that Mighty Heavenly Sword Region had with him and why Xuanyuan Jue astonishingly seemed to be completely unafraid of his rumored “master”.
The air suddenly grew cold as a sharp aura that was so cold that it seemed to come from the very depths of the netherworld suddenly pervaded the air. This caused all conversation to grind to a sudden halt, as if all words had been frozen.
Yun Che suddenly raised his and head and looked in the direction of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. Three pitch-black figures appeared from the sky out of nowhere like ghosts.
All three people were dressed in black, their expressions were as stiff as corpses. Their brows were as long and thin as swords and every line on their faces was so stiff that it looked like they had been carved with a blade.
Yun Che was five hundred meters distant from them but he could not feel any energy radiating from them and he could not see any vigor or life in their eyes either. Yun Che closed his eyes and he actually could not even recall the appearances of these three people. Furthermore, based on his spiritual perception alone, he was completely unable to sense that there were three people floating in space. The only thing he could sense were three keen swords with unrivalled sharpness!
“What dreadful sword intent!” Yun Che muttered to himself.
The entire atmosphere of the Sea God Arena had instantly frozen due to the arrival of these three people. Even the expressions of the gathered elders of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary had faintly changed at the arrival of these three people.
“Sword Attendant Heartless, Sword Attendant Merciless, Sword Attendant Emotionless. The most terrifying existence in Mighty Heavenly Sword Region! The Three Sword Attendants!” Xia Yuanba said with furrowed brows. Even though there was still quite a distance between them, he still felt as if three sharp swords were pressed against his throat. His body had completely tensed up unconsciously and even his breathing had become uneven, “Even though this is the first time I have seen them, no one else besides these three dreadful sword attendants could produce such extreme sword intent.”
Yun Che’s brows knit together… Even though the aggregate strength of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region was the least of the Four Sacred Grounds, they had the most level ten Monarchs. They had four people at this level, drawing even with Absolute Monarch Sanctuary.
Besides Sword Master Xuanyuan Wentian, the other three level ten Monarchs were the “Three Sword Attendants” that Xia Yuanba had told him about a few days ago!
They were a terrifying existence whose might was second only to the Four Sacred Masters!!
“I heard from Master that these three people had purged all their worldly passions and desires from a very young age. They bent their hearts solely towards mastering the sword and their cultivation in the way of the sword has reached the highest peaks, a supreme realm of mastery where there is nothing that they cannot do. Even blades of grass and flying flowers are swords to them. With a thought, they can summon countless blades of sword energy. They are able to kill someone without leaving a single trace. It was said that if all three of them joined forces, they would be able to rival a leader of a Sacred Ground!”
Xia Yuanba’s voice was low and deep. When he had brought up the Three Sword Attendants earlier, it had only been a cursory introduction. But right now, after learning about Yun Che’s situation, his heart felt incredibly heavy when he introduced these three people yet again, .
The three men floated down from the sky and they sat down at the front of where Mighty Heavenly Sword Region was being seated. As the Young Sword Master, Xuanyuan Wendao got up from his seat at the fastest speed possible to greet them, his attitude respectful and reverential.
From this act alone, one could see just how exalted their status were in Mighty Heavenly Sword Region.
Yun Che’s gaze swept across the venue before his eyes landed on where Supreme Ocean Palace was being seated. The most eye-catching sight was those seven old people who sat at the very front. They were all sitting side by side and they were dressed in the exact same clothes, but each of their outfits were of a different color.
The gathered elders of Supreme Ocean Palace were garbed in light blue, but these seven people were dressed in red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue and purple! The way they were dressed seemed to represent all the colors of the rainbow!
Xia Yuanba followed Yun Che’s gaze before speaking, “Those seven people are the Seven Venerable Ones of Supreme Ocean Palace! Venerable Purple and Venerable Blue who are seated in the middle are both level ten Monarchs who are able to rival the Three Sword Attendants!”
Yun Che’s gaze went from the Seven Venerable Ones of Supreme Ocean Palace to Zi Ji.
Zi Ji’s seat was astonishingly in front of even the Seven Venerable Ones!
It was as if Zi Ji had felt Yun Che’s gaze because he turned to look at him at the same time. He gave a small nod of his head and a faint smile.
To the right of Supreme Ocean Palace was the area Sun Moon Divine Hall was being seated. All of the people seated there wore clothes that were emblazoned with a sun and a moon. The five people who were seated in the very front looked ancient but the sun and moon emblazoned on their clothes glowed with a luminosity that almost seemed real. These five ancients sat together and the aura they released was dense and primal. It was as if their auras had mingled to create an independent and small world, one which others would have no hope of stepping into.
“Those five people are Sun Moon Divine Hall’s Sun Moon Divine Envoys! They are Divine Envoy Heavens Equal, Divine Envoy Blazing Sun, Divine Envoy Moon Punisher, Divine Envoy Star Banisher and Divine Envoy Earth Turner respectively. Among these five, Divine Envoy Heavens Equal and Divine Envoy Blazing Sun are both level ten Monarchs. Divine Envoy Heavens Equal is especially strong, he is the mightiest of the Five Divine Envoys. His title ‘Heavens Equal’ basically indicates that he is of equal status and position as the Heavenly Monarch Ye Meixie. The other three Divine Envoys are all level nine Monarchs!”
Xia Yuanba explained to Yun Che.
Divine Envoys? So they chose to use the name of the gods in their titles?
Yun Che gave a quiet and cold chuckle before shooting a glance towards Ye Xinghan who sat behind the five Sun Moon Divine Envoys.
The young divine hall master of Sun Moon Divine Hall would definitely not be absent from this Devil Sword Conference. Furthermore, he stared straight at Yun Che as well, his gaze full of venom and hate. When his eyes met with Yun Che’s eyes, his pupils immediately contracted and he quickly averted his gaze but the muscles on his face continued to twitch and writhe.
Besides the Four Great Sacred Grounds, all the other powers from the Profound Sky Continent that were gathered here were all sitting ramrod straight, none of them moving a single muscle. Their expressions were nervous and tense, their breathing was moderate and shallow and even their whispering was done in the most cautious and discreet manners. All of these powers were naturally aware that the Four Great Sacred Grounds were the paramount existences within the Profound Sky Continent, but they had definitely never imagined that the true power of the Sacred Grounds was actually this terrible.
Monarchs, the legends that existed in their hearts and minds, an existence that they might encounter once every thousand years. Hundreds of them had appeared in this place! It was an event that was so shocking that it was highly plausible that they would remain dazed for many days.
The entire Sea God Arena was shrouded in a gigantic curtain of light. Even Yun Che’s eyes were unable to penetrate that veil of light and see what lay within. But anyone would be able to guess that the eponymous devil sword of this Devil Sword Conference lay behind this curtain of light.
Time was flowing slowly but at this moment, the light in the sky suddenly dimmed by a fraction.
This small decrease in brightness was something that a normal person would definitely not be able to detect. But all those who were seated here were the most powerful individuals in the Profound Sky Continent. Their spiritual perceptions were all extremely keen and many of them had raised their heads to the sky the moment the light had dimmed.
“Brother-in-law, quickly look!” Xia Yuanba said as he raised his head to the sky.
The blazing sun hung in the east but it slowly crept towards the center. However, an extremely short and slim black scar had appeared at the border of the eastern sky!
“The fabled Thirteen Star Alignment… Is it really going to appear now?” Xia Yuanba muttered to himself. At the same time, the entire Sea God Arena began rumbling with noise.
In the eastern part of the Sea God Arena, a beam of sword energy pierced the heavens. It was as if a blazing meteor had descended from the sky, the light it gave off was so piercing that everyone was blinded for a moment. Under that light, a green figure slowly appeared within the space that had been slashed open by that sword beam. He was all dressed in green and his sword might was boundless. Once he appeared, it was as if an emperor was arriving in all of his pomp and glory, causing the hearts and souls of all who were gathered to tremble with fear.
Following the arrival of this person, every single member of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, from the lowest disciple to the mightiest sword attendant, rose from their seats and bowed in greeting:
“The absolute sword of heaven’s might is peerless and unmatched in this world! We welcome the Sword Master!”
The Sword Master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region—Xuanyuan Wentian!
“Hahahaha!”
Wild laughter rang out from the western section of the Sea God Arena which was directly opposite Xuanyuan Wentian. Amidst this wild laughter, the empty air above that area suddenly shone with a glaring profound light, it was as if a burning sun was being born. On the other side, a luminous waning moon also appeared floating in the air. One sun and one moon instantly suppressed all the light in this area and even the real sun that hung in the eastern sky seemed dimmer under the light of this sun and moon.
A tall and upright figure slowly walked out between the light that was emitted from this sun and moon. He was garbed in white and his eyes twinkled like cold stars as a mighty aura that rivalled Xuanyuan Wentian’s descended from above. This caused all of the profound practitioners who were sitting in the western section of the Sea God Arena to shiver fiercely as they could barely resist the urge to kneel on the floor and prostrate themselves in worship.
“Of the blazing sun and punishing moon, the Heavenly Monarch equals the heavens! We greet the Heavenly Monarch!”
This time, all of the profound practitioners of Sun Moon Divine Hall had gotten to their feet before they kneeled down in obeisance.
“The Holy Master of Sun Moon Divine Hall, the one who possesses the title of ‘Heavenly Monarch’, Ye Meixie!?” Yun Che muttered to himself. Ye Meixie appeared to be a middle-aged man, he looked far younger than Yun Che had expected.
In the southern part of the Sea God Arena, a faint yellow light descended from the skies right in front of where Absolute Monarch Sanctuary was seated. Within that yellow light, a frail and thin figure dressed in white clothes appeared.
The moment that weak and frail figure appeared, all of the spiritual masters, elders and disciples of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary… Xia Yuanba included, all swiftly stood to their feet as they clasped their hands and shouted a greeting:
“Absolute Monarch Saint Emperor, ruler of the myriad boundaries! We welcome the Saint Emperor!”
More than one hundred Monarchs and four hundred Sovereigns shouted that greeting at the same time, the profound energy that shook the air was mighty indeed. Yun Che was extremely close by and he was still heavily injured, so he did not react in time to shield himself. He was so shaken by the profound energy that his chest felt heavy and his vision swam, his wounds nearly opening up again due to the impact.
The frail and thin man slowly turned around as he gave an extremely calm and placid smile to the gathered members of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary and made a gesture for them to return to their seats. The moment he turned around, Yun Che clearly saw his features as well and his heart was filled with shock and astonishment.
Huangji Wuyu, the Saint Emperor of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, the leader of the Four Sacred Grounds! The man who was publically acknowledged as the most powerful person in the Profound Sky Continent! As one of the supreme powers whose existence was legendary, everyone thought that he would definitely possess a matchless and majestic figure and that his aura would shake the heavens.
But what appeared in Yun Che’s eyes was a frail and thin young man… who did not look to be more than sixteen years of age!
But his gaze was that of an ancient man, his eyes looked like they had seen the rise and fall of a hundred ages.
Xuanyuan Wentian’s aura was incomparably sharp, it was as if ten thousand swords had descended from the sky. Ye Meixie’s aura was boundless and majestic and it seemed as if it could collapse the sky. Huangji Wuyu, on the other hand, projected an aura that was not tyrannical in the slightest, there was no attacking intent in it… Actually, Yun Che could not even sense the presence of any profound energy from his body. It was as if he was mere commoner who did not even practice the profound way.
Huangji Wuyu’s gaze touched Yun Che and it lingered there for a second. After that, he turned towards the Sea God Arena and quietly stared at the curtain of light that shrouded it.
In the west, a gentle aura that surged with hidden power descended from the sky, enveloping the hearts and souls of everyone present. At that moment, the picture of a vast and boundless ocean appeared in everyone’s hearts. This ocean was raging and frothing as huge waves soared to the heavens.
Before a figure had even appeared, the entire Supreme Ocean Palace had all risen to their feet in greeting:
“The supreme Sovereign of the Seas, she who has no limits!”
Supreme Ocean Palace—Sovereign of the Seas Qu Fengyi had arrived! She was still garbed in those blue skirts that Yun Che had seen her wearing but her expression was dignified and her aura was incomparably noble and grand.
In the east: Mighty Heavenly Sword Region—Sword Master Xuanyuan Wentian.
In the west: Sun Moon Divine Hall—Heavenly Monarch Ye Meixie.
In the south: Absolute Monarch Sanctuary—Saint Emperor Huangji Wuyu.
In the north: Supreme Ocean Palace—Sovereign of the Seas Qu Fengyi.
The masters of the Profound Sky’s Four Great Sacred Grounds, the current four true rulers of the Profound Sky Continent were all gathered in this Sea God Arena!
Chapter 799 - Devil Sword Conference (3)
The Sea God Arena had fallen completely silent. The Four Sacred Masters were gathered in one place. Their power and prestige enough to cover the earth and the sky, and it was enough to intimidate the entire continent.
Sovereign of the Seas Qu Fengyi raised her head to the sky as she looked at the sun, which was slowly being marked with a black scar, before speaking in a solemn voice, “The Thirteen Star Alignment is about to occur. All our preparations of the past few months have been for this moment alone. The heroes of the realm have also gathered at my Supreme Ocean Palace just for the sake of gazing upon this devil sword and attempting to uncover its secrets together. If the secret of the devil sword can truly be unveiled as per our wishes and desires, then it will definitely be a grand occasion for our Profound Sky Continent.”
Sovereign of the Seas Qu Fengyi looked at Huangji Wuyu. “Even though this event is being held by Supreme Ocean Palace, the Devil Sword Conference is not something that belongs to us alone. It is an event for the entire profound world of the Profound Sky Continent. Brother Huangji, you have the most seniority between the four of us, and your voice also carries the most weight. Therefore, you are the person most suitable to preside over this Devil Sword Conference.”
“Heheh.” Huangji Wuyu gave a tepid laugh. “The devil sword was obtained by Sword Master Xuanyuan, so it is natural that his knowledge of it would be the deepest. We should let Sword Master Xuanyuan host this event. He would naturally be even more suited to the task than I.”
“Alright then!” Xuanyuan Wentian gave a great laugh as he wholeheartedly accepted that suggestion. “Since this is the case, I, Xuanyuan Wentian, will gladly comply.”
As his voice faded, Xuanyuan Wentian raised his right palm and a pale white sword beam discharged from the center of his palm and shot toward the sky.
In an instant, that sword beam had already grown more than three hundred meters long, transforming into a three hundred and thirty meter long profound sword in Xuanyuan Wentian’s hand. After that, he shouted as he slashed down at the Sea God Arena below him.
Clang!!
The gigantic curtain of light that shrouded the Sea God Arena was split open by a single slash from that profound sword. Light shattered as ice would shatter, becoming countless fragments that scattered all over the place. They disappeared into thin air in the blink of an eye, revealing the Sea God Arena that had been hidden from view.
Everyone’s eyes turned toward the Sea God Arena. Following the disappearance of that curtain of light, the Sea God Arena was completely revealed.
The Sea God Arena was several kilometers wide, and at this moment, everyone was astonished to find a gigantic circular profound formation imprinted on it. The profound light that this profound formation radiated was not intense. It glowed brilliantly at times, and grew dark at others. The rate at which the light alternated was exceptionally slow. The borders of the profound formation stretched to the edges of the Sea God Arena, practically covering every inch of it.
The center of the profound formation was also the center of the Sea God Arena. A pitch black sword was there, gently floating in midair. The body of the sword was as black as ink. It was roughly six and a half feet long and one foot wide. It had a square hilt, and the half of the blade near the hilt had two irregular markings that ran down its length. If one looked closely, they would see that the markings were a crescent blood moon that had been cut in half!
Aside from all of these things, the sword did not emit an aura, nor did any power or light radiate from it. Instead, everyone felt as if it were completely lifeless.
“So that is… the legendary Heavenly Sin Divine Sword?” Xia Yuanba could not help but exclaim aloud before continuing in a soft voice, “It doesn’t seem very extraordinary to me.”
Yun Che’s gaze was completely fixed on the sword. His eyes roamed across the body of the sword before finally coming to rest where the sigil of the blood colored broken moon was.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had said that the true name of this sword was the “Moon Slaughter Devil Sword”!
Furthermore, this blood colored broken moon sigil also fit the name of “Moon Slaughter”… there was no mistaking it!
The public may know of this sword as the “Heavenly Sin Divine Sword,” but only Yun Che knew that this was a completely authentic ancient devil sword!
He just did not know if the devil soul that had been stored in the blade still existed!
The devil soul of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s son!
“What is that profound formation below it?” Yun Che asked in a low voice.
“Its function should be to gather profound energy,” Xia Yuanba replied. “This profound formation was already being prepared half a year ago. During these last six months, Lord Saint Emperor spent most of his time at Supreme Ocean Palace specifically for the sake of setting up this profound formation. It should have been the same with the other Sacred Masters as well.”
Yun Che, “…”
Yun Che’s brows furrowed slightly, and he let out a long sigh. According to the memories that Jasmine had retrieved from Fen Juechen, the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword had been sealed away by the Eternal Night Royal Family for generations. The entire clan had considered it a forbidden object, and no one was allowed to get close enough to touch it. Furthermore, they periodically would strengthen the seal.
Breaking the seal on the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword was the goal of this Devil Sword Conference.
Furthermore, if it weren’t for the seal that had been made by the Eternal Night Royal Family, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region would not have been baffled for over a thousand years. In the end, they had no choice but to organize this Devil Sword Conference and borrow the power of all the mighty individuals in the land.
Could it be that the Evil God’s seal still lingered on the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword?
No, that could not be the case! Even though the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s vitality and soul had been completely shattered, he was obviously still able to escape the Evil God’s seal. Furthermore, since the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword was the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s sword, it would naturally be on his person and be one with his body. If the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign could escape that seal, then there would be no reason for the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword to still be affected by said seal.
Yun Che pondered this conundrum for a while before a thought suddenly sprang into his head. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had said that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sword, which was also the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword, had been personally tossed into the Profound Sky Continent by him because he wanted to use it to gather information about the outside world. However, the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword independently severed the spiritual connection it had with the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign after he threw it out…
Furthermore, once a sword completely submitted to its master, it would be impossible for the sword to take the initiative to sever the spiritual connection it had with its master!
This means that the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword was still an independent existence at that time, and the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was not its true master!
Or could it be that the Evil God’s seal, which had lasted for a million years, had destroyed the spiritual contract that had been established between the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign and his sword?
“This sword is, indeed, a devil sword, and it is also known as the ‘Heavenly Sin Divine Sword’!” Xuanyuan Wentian proclaimed in a clear, loud voice.
“Furthermore, the name ‘Heavenly Sin Divine Sword’ came from the Eternal Night Royal Family that was destroyed a thousand years ago.”
The faces of everyone present were filled with shock and astonishment. Especially among the Four Sacred Grounds, the name “Eternal Night Royal Family” had always been taboo. The main culprit behind the destruction of the Eternal Night Royal Family was Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, so no one would have ever thought that Xuanyuan Wentian would voluntarily bring up the Eternal Night Royal Family.
“This matter occurred a thousand years ago, so it is natural that very few people know of the ‘Eternal Night Royal Family’. However, all of you who are gathered here today are also the overlords of the Profound Sky Continent, so I’m sure that you have heard of it before.”
Those who knew of the Eternal Night Royal Family would roughly know the truth behind its destruction. Yet Xuanyuan Wentian’s voice still rang out as clear as a heavenly bell despite the scrutiny of the entire audience. His expression did not change. It was as if he were talking about a name that was not relevant to him at all. “The Eternal Night Royal Family was initially only a mediocre power, but they swiftly rose to the top after they obtaining this sword ten thousand years ago. In a short thousand years, they had were able to lord over the Profound Sky Continent and be considered equal to the Four Great Sacred Grounds. At that time, the whole world knew that the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword must have been hiding some world-shaking secret.
“The Eternal Night Royal Family’s profound art was known as the ‘Eternal Night Illusory God Record’, and when they circulated their profound energy, it was pitch black. It was a baleful, malevolent energy that was extremely similar to the powers possessed by devils and fiends of legend. In the end, however, a profound art is still a profound art. Whether or not a profound art is righteous or demonic is not dependent on the profound art, but the person using the profound art. This was why no one ever questioned whether or not the Eternal Night Royal Family had fallen to a demonic path and become degenerate. However, a thousand years ago, the Eternal Night Royal Family kept committing grievous sins that could not be forgiven or tolerated by heaven and earth. Since the Sacred Grounds were responsible for protecting the Profound Sky Continent through the generations, we had no choice but to join hands to destroy the Eternal Night Royal Family forever.”
Who was the true evil, who was the one who had fallen to a demonic path, and who had committed crimes that were unforgivable to heaven and earth? These were facts that the other three Sacred Grounds knew well. There were even many people outside of the Sacred Grounds who were also aware of the truth. Yet Xuanyuan Wentian was able to skillfully continue without skipping a beat without a shred of guilt showing on his face. On the contrary, his face was filled with a fervent righteousness.
Yun Che stared at Xuanyuan Wentian’s face, but he did not find it comical or despicable. Instead, he felt a cold chill seize his heart.
This was an extremely terrifying man… one more terrifying than any person he had ever met.
“At that time, the Eternal Night King was known as Ye Mufeng. Even though he possessed considerable profound strength, he was still weaker than any one of the Four Sacred Masters. However, when he brought out the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword in the end, his strength actually erupted and no one could face him. In the end, it took the combined power of the Four Sacred Masters and nineteen of the strongest elders from the Sacred Grounds to narrowly defeat him. Even then, we had to pay a terrible price. All Four Sacred Masters were heavily wounded, while ten of the nineteen elders were dead with the remaining injured as well.
The words uttered by Xuanyuan Wentian caused shock and alarm to appear on the faces of a majority of the audience. All of the people present were familiar with the name “Eternal Night Royal Family”, and all of them knew that this clan had been destroyed by the combined might of the Four Great Sacred Grounds. Yet no one but the Four Great Sacred Grounds knew the details concerning the demise of the Eternal Night King.
They had also never dreamed that the Eternal Night King had become that strong all those years ago. To think that the Four Sacred Masters who lorded over the realm and nineteen of the most powerful elders from the Sacred Grounds had just barely defeated him!
The Four Sacred Masters had reached the very peak of the tenth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm. It could be said that, within the Sovereign Profound Realm, none were their equal!
To think that the Eternal Night King of a thousand years ago was that terrifying. Could it be that… he had reached the legendary Divine Profound Realm?
Yun Che’s brows furrowed as he coldly absorbed Xuanyuan Wentian’s words. At this moment, he felt a cold, bone-piercing, and yet strangely familiar killing intent wash over him. Although the other party was trying its best to conceal it, Yun Che was extremely sensitive to killing intent, so it was not able to escape his spiritual perception.
Yun Che’s gaze swept across the Sea God Arena as he attempted to locate the origin of that killing intent as quickly as possible. His eyes eventually settled on a familiar figure.
It was Fen Juechen!!
Fen Juechen was dressed in a set of black clothes, quietly sitting in an inconspicuous corner at the very edge of the venue. His expression was cold and gloomy, and his gaze alone would cause one’s heart to throb.
“Fen Juechen… so he came after all!” Yun Che muttered to himself. Before this, all of his attention had been focused on the Four Great Sacred Grounds and how to deal with the approaching crisis. This, coupled with the fact that Fen Juechen had clearly suppressed his own presence, made Yun Che completely fail to notice him until now.
Fen Juechen’s goal in coming to this place was obviously the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword. The only problem was, Yun Che could not figure out what actions he would take to get it. Even though Fen Juechen now possessed great power, in comparison to four major powers who had flourished for ten thousand years, his personal strength was merely a drop of water in the ocean.
On the other hand, Yun Che was even more curious about one thing. Why would Mighty Heavenly Sword Region specifically invite Fen Juechen to participate in this Devil Sword Conference? Was it merely because his strength had fit the criteria that allowed him to participate?
Feng Juechen’s senses were also extremely sharp. When Yun Che looked in his direction, his gaze shot back at him almost immediately. A pair of eyes that looked like they belonged on a vicious wolf stared at Yun Che as a bone-piercing hatred swifty took shape within them.
Yun Che’s brows twitched as he stared at Fen Juechen’s eyes, shock blooming in his heart.
He could feel the hatred that Fen Juechen held toward him… It was exactly the same as every other occasion they had clashed and had not diminished in the slightest. This time, however there was only hatred… yet no killing intent!?
What was going on? Yun Che’s heart was filled with doubt and suspicion… Fen Juechen’s desire to kill him had always been extremely strong. His desire to kill Yun Che was one of the reasons for his current pain-filled existence. Furthermore, he had never concealed his killing intent in front of him…
But this time there was only hatred and no killing intent!?
What’s going on… Or is there some mistake with my perception?
While Yun Che was shocked and confused, Feng Juechen withdrew his icy cold gaze. His gaze grew hard as he fixed his eyes upon the pitch black sword that floated in the middle of the Sea God Arena. He did not look at Xuanyuan Wentian, nor did he look at any of the other Sacred Masters… because he was afraid that he would not be able to prevent his extreme hatred and killing intent from leaking out.
Xuanyuan Wentian continued to speak. “After he took out the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword, the Eternal Night King’s strength was extraordinary and completely surpassed the boundaries of the Sovereign Profound Realm. Furthermore, even though his physical body had been destroyed in the struggle, and he had been defeated in combat, his soul refused to die. According to the legends, being able to exist as a soul after one’s body has perished is an ability that is gained when one enters the Divine Profound Realm. It is definitely not something one can achieve with the power of a Monarch.
“So it stands to reason that the strength displayed by Eternal Night King Ye Mufeng after taking out the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword was definitely a strength that surpassed the boundaries of the Sovereign Profound Realm and stepped into the legendary Divine Profound Realm!”
The Sea God Arena immediately started to buzz with noise as the face of every person present was filled with astonishment and expectation—Battling the Four Sacred Masters and nineteen other elders from the Four Sacred Grounds alone, and being able to endure as a soul after his body perished… these things clearly proved that the Eternal Night King’s strength had definitely transcended the Sovereign Profound Realm!
Furthermore, all of this information had been conveyed to them by the Sword Master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region Xuanyuan Wentian while the three other Sacred Masters looked on. How could it possibly be false!
It seemed as though the “secrets of the Divine Profound” were not just empty words and false promises!
“The rise of the Eternal Night Royal Family occurred because they obtained the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword. The enormous change in Ye Mufeng also happened after he took out the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword. Therefore, it was clear that all of these secrets were contained within the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword.
“After we had punished Ye Mufeng one thousand years ago, we greedily lusted after the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword, hoping to decipher the secret behind Ye Mufeng’s sudden increase in strength. However, the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword was lost in that vicious battle and went missing for the past thousand years. Fortunately, my Mighty Heavenly Sword Region managed to inadvertently stumble upon it in a remote wasteland one year ago…”
“This Xuanyuan Wentian is clearly full of bullshit, yet he acts so calm and composed as if his conscience were clear! His skin is unbelievably thick!” Xia Yuanba growled through gritted teeth. “My master had told me they had long suspected that the missing Heavenly Sin Divine Sword had fallen into the hands of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region a thousand years ago. All those years ago, Xuanyuan Wentian used despicably evil methods to destroy the Eternal Night Royal Family and obtain the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword!”
“Let’s continue listening to his speech. He planned carefully and methodically for today’s performance,” Yun Che said in a low voice. A profound shrewdness, terrifying cunning… despicably evil methods… a profound strength and an organization that stood at the very summit of power… Yun Che was beginning to feel an increasingly heavy pressure emanate from Xuanyuan Wentian.
The sky slowly grew darker. Yun Che raised his head and saw that the black scar in the sky nearly covered a tenth of the scorching sun.
Chapter 800 - Devil Sword Conference (4)
“After we obtained the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword by chance, my Mighty Heavenly Sword Region had selfish thoughts and we desired to keep the secrets of the devil sword for ourselves. However, the sword was covered by a strong and peerless seal, even the full might of my Mighty Heavenly Sword Region was unable to do anything to it. It was as if the very heavens themselves had willed that the secrets of the devil sword were not for one person to monopolize. Instead, it was to be shared with the heroes of the realm, to the benefit of the profound way of our Profound Sky Continent!”
“Hahahaha, Sword Master Xuanyuan has truly spoken well.” Heavenly Monarch Ye Meixie interjected with a great laugh, “If this devil sword truly contains the mysteries of the Divine Profound and we manage to uncover it, then all the invited heroes of the realm will benefit greatly from it. Our Profound Sky Continent’s profound way will also break through to another realm, attaining the transcendence that even our forefathers could not reach. When that time comes, the people of the Profound Sky Continent will no longer have to worry about the demons of the Illusory Demon Realm staring at them with greedy eyes. So if this truly comes to pass, it will be a grand event that will be spoken of for ten thousand years. It will be an event that will be etched in the history and consciousness of our entire continent, not merely confined to those of us who pursue the way of the profound.”
The demons of the Illusory Demon Realms were the ones who were staring at you with covetous eyes, huh? Yun Che’s eyes sank as a cold and disdainful smile appeared on his face.
If he had never been to the Illusory Demon Realm, he would have firmly believed like the rest of the Profound Sky Continent that the Four Great Sacred Grounds had always been defending the continent from the predations of the Illusory Demon Realm, and he would have no doubt that they deserved the mantle of “Sacred Ground”.
But the truth that he had witnessed and heard about in the Illusory Demon Continent had been the complete opposite of what he heard his entire life!
Sovereign of the Seas Qu Fengyi’s expression remained as cold and remote as calm water, nary a ripple of emotion showing on her face. Huangji Wuyu did not go along with this charade either. He briefly raised his head before speaking in a calm and dry voice, “Half of the scorching sun has been hidden away and the yang energy in the air is gradually dissipating. The time is at hand. Let us prepare to begin.”
Xuanyuan Wentian gently nodded his head. His body began to slowly ascend as he spoke in a bright and clear voice, “The Thirteen Star Alignment. This is a strange and marvelous natural phenomenon that generally occurs every three thousand years. In a short fifteen minutes, this natural phenomenon will appear once more. At that time, the entire Profound Sky Continent will be darkened as yin energy covers the heavens. It is also at that time when the seal on the devil sword will be at its weakest point in three thousand years!”
“The profound formation below is known as the Boundless Universe Formation. It is something that the Four Great Sacred Grounds took several months to complete. It is not something that can be used offensively, but it is able to activate all of the profound energy within its bounds instantly and use that energy to bombard the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword that lies in its center!”
“I see.” Yun Che gave a low gasp. So they would rely on this unique profound formation to perform the so-called gathering of all the might of the heroes of the realm.
The sky grew darker and darker. At this moment, Yun Che raised his head to look at the sky and he saw that half of the scorching sun had already been covered.
After half of it had been covered by the dark scar and the sky began to grow darker at a faster speed. It was clearly noontime, but right now, it seemed as if evening had begun.
Xunayuan Wentian surveyed the sky as he faintly nodded to the other three Sacred Masters. He proclaimed in a loud voice, “The time is near! The time has come for all of us to gather our strength and uncover the secrets of the devil sword! Even though this sword was found by my Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, I, Xuanyuan Wentian, solemnly swear on my title of Sword Master that if the secrets of the Divine Profound are truly uncovered after the seal on the sword has been broken, my Mighty Heavenly Sword Region and the three other Sacred Grounds will not hide and keep it for ourselves. It will be freely shared with all who are participating in the unsealing of this devil sword!”
“The words of Sword Master Xuanyuan are naturally trustworthy, his word is his bond!”
Over at where the Divine Phoenix Sect was seated, Feng Zukui slowly stood up from his seat. Among the powers outside of the Four Great Sacred Grounds, the Divine Phoenix Sect held the most clout and the most influence. Furthermore, the person who possessed the most exalted status within the sect was naturally Feng Zukui as well, “What should we do when the coming phenomenon of the Thirteen Star Alignment arrives?”
“It’s very simple.” Xuanyuan Wentian replied, “I just have to request that all of you rise from your seats and come inside this Boundless Universe Formation while gathering all of the profound energy in your bodies without reservation. The moment the thirteen stars do align and the heaven and earth turns completely dark, I would request that everyone listen to my command and pour all of your profound energy into this formation. This will enable the Boundless Universe Formation to gather an extremely strong power…. No matter how strong the seal on the devil sword is, if the might of everyone present today is gathered up, we will definitely be able to break it in a single strike!”
“Hahahaha, so that is how it is! This old man had always thought that this would be an extremely arduous and risky undertaking. If not, the grand Four Great Sacred Grounds would not have to go so far as to invite all the heroes of the realm. But to think that it was actually so simple.” Feng Zukui let out a great laugh as he took to the skies as well, “Divine Phoenix disciples, listen to my command! Follow me and move inside the Sea God Arena!”
Under Feng Zukui’s command, all the members of the Divine Phoenix Sect had flown up from their seats to arrive within the Boundless Universe Formation. Feng Xue’er hesitated for a moment as she glanced at where Yun Che was seated, but in the end, she had no choice but to accompany Feng Hengkong.
If the Divine Phoenix Sect took the lead, then the other powers within the Seven Nations would not fall behind either, and they followed suit as well. Following the faint gestures made by the Four Sacred Masters, all the gathered disciples of the Four Great Sacred Grounds all took to the sky as well, as they flew onto the Sea God Arena.
In the blink of an eye, the seats that surrounded the Sea God Arena had been completely emptied as the six thousand over profound practitioners who represented the highest level of power within the Profound Sky Continent all floated over the Boundless Universe Formation.
However, three people had yet to leave their seats.
Yun Che, Xia Yuanba… and Fen Juechen!
Furthermore, the three people that were left were all extremely irritating to the eye.
There were no dark clouds in the sky, yet it had still become very dark as the black scar had covered seventy percent of the sun. A deathly stillness had settled over the venue and it seemed as all life had been drained out of the air. Even these mighty profound practitioners felt their chests being engulfed by a heavy pressure.
At this time, Xuanyuan Wentian’s eyes swivelled towards Yun Che as he suddenly spoke, “Asgard Master Yun, could it be that you have no interest towards this devil sword or the secrets of the Divine Profound?”
The words of Xuanyuan Wentian caused everyone to focus their attention on Yun Che.
If this was someone else, they would have definitely become so frightened that their faces would have lost all color. But Yun Che had already prepared for such an eventuality so he gave a faint laugh instead, “It is not that this junior possesses no interest towards these things. It is just that I am still recovering from my wounds. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
“Ah, so that was how it is.” Xuanyuan Wentian said as he nodded his head. His tone changed as he gave a faint smile, “I heard that Asgard Master Yun’s teacher is Old Man Duotian. Ten thousand years ago, Old Man Duotian’s had obtained a world-shaking breakthrough in his profound cultivation, so he must have already reached the pinnacle of perfection. I heard that an elder of the Sun Moon Divine Elder, Ye Shi, had unwittingly offended your revered master and he was completely annihilated by a small wisp of flame. This level of cultivation is completely unheard of and it’s something that has shocked the entire world. If your revered master is able to make an appearance today, he would be able to break this seal on this devil sword with a flick of his wrist, and we would not even need to mobilize the entire profound world of the Profound Sky Continent.”
“Even though he might disdain to take action, if we could even witness the legendary Old Man Duotian, it would be the greatest fortune in our lifetime.”
Only Yun Che could hear the sarcasm and mockery in Xuanyuan Wentian’s voice.
This definitely confirmed that the truth behind “Old Man Duotian” was something that had been exposed to Xuanyuan Wentian! It was also obvious now that the kidnapping of Xiao Yun had been done by Mighty Heavenly Sword Region…. Before this, he was only eighty percent certain. But right now, he was thoroughly convinced!
“My master has no desire to step into the affairs of mortals!” Yun Che replied, remaining calm and composed throughout.
“Heh heh, then that is truly regrettable.” Xuanyuan Wentian gaze shifted to the side as he looked at Xia Yuanba, “Could it be that young Xia is also completely uninterested in the secrets of the Divine Profound?”
“Of course I’m not interested.” Xia Yuanba replied as he crossed his arms over his chest. He had not been moved at all and it even seemed like there was a violent energy hidden within him, “If I want to step into the Divine Profound Realm, it will take me no more than one hundred years, so why would I have any need for the so-called secrets of the Divine Profound… Moreover, we don’t know if it even exists.”
Once these words were uttered, it shocked everyone who was present. Even the faces of the Four Sacred Masters themselves had undergone a dramatic change. Claiming that he would be able to break through to the Divine Profound Realm within one hundred years, even one of the Four Sacred Masters would not be able to make such an arrogant and outrageous claim… Because in the ten thousand year history of the Four Great Sacred Grounds, even those old monsters who had lived for two to three thousand years had been unable to truly touch the Divine Profound Realm.
“Hahahahaha!” The calm and easygoing Huangji Wuyu threw his head back in great laughter, “Yuanba, there has never been a person who has dared to make such an outrageous claim before you did. The words you just said doesn’t matter. Offending Sword Master Xuanyuan is a small thing as well. But Yuanba, you have belittled all the heroes of the realm with one simple sentence. However, this is simply music to this emperor’s ears, hahahahaha…”
It was extremely rare for the Sacred Master of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary to display such emotion. The Twelve Spiritual Masters and the gathered elders of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary had also begun to laugh as well and their laughter was laced with satisfaction and pride. If someone else had uttered those words, it would have been treated as a complete joke. But only Xia Yuanba possessed the right to show such arrogance!
It was just over ten days ago that Xia Yuanba had suddenly experienced a breakthrough in strength yet again after a short period of confinement. Huangji Wuyu had told the Twelve Spiritual Masters then and there: It was very possible that Xia Yuanba would step into the fabled Divine Profound Realm in the future, becoming the first person to do so in the history of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary!
Sovereign of the Seas Qu Fengyi said in a grave voice, “There is no need for Sword Master Xuanyuan to speak any further. It is entirely up to the individual whether they will exert themselves during today’s Devil Sword Conference. If they do not believe or look down on the secrets of the devil sword, then they are certainly within their rights to merely be observers. There is no need to demand or force anyone to do anything! Anyways, the time is at hand! It is about to begin!”
“Alright!”
Eighty percent of the sun had been shrouded by darkness and the skies had become so dark that it seemed as if the curtain of night had fallen upon them. Xuanyuan Wentian raised both of his hands as he spoke, “In about one hundred breaths, the thirteen stars will align. So I request that all of you follow me and concentrate all of the profound energy in your body. You must definitely not hold anything back! The moment the heavens and earth become completely shrouded in darkness, pour forth all your profound energy into the formation at my command! Let’s break the seal on the devil sword!”
“Haah!”
Xuanyuan Wentian gave a great shout as his clothes billowed and his hair stood on end. The profound energy surrounding his body surged and swelled as it manifested a sword intent that covered the heavens.
Huangji Wuyu, Qu Fengyi and Ye Meixie followed suit as four world-shaking auras pressed down on everyone. The power in the air was so heavy and powerful that it seemed like a deity was about to descend from the heavens. This startled the powers from the Seven Nations so badly that they had turned completely ashen.
“Divine Phoenix disciples, heed my command! Concentrate all of the profound energy in your body! Hold back nothing!”
All of the profound energy surrounding Feng Zukui flared up as well as Phoenix flames soared into the heavens. Under his command, all of the Divine Phoenix disciples had ignited their divine Phoenix flames at the same time. In an instant, the darkening sky became stained by a startling crimson light.
Following this, all of the profound practitioners from the Sacred Grounds and the other powers of the Seven Nations began to focus all of their profound energy as well. More than five hundred Monarchs and six thousand Overlords focused their power at the same time, causing the gathered force to be terrifying. All of this profound energy was being focused and was in an unreleased state. This caused Yun Che, who was looking on at the sidelines, to feel as if a terrible and frightening storm was heading his way.
In his normal state, even though this aura was alarming, it would not be enough to force him back. But right now, his entire body was wounded, so it was rather hard for him to bear.
Xia Yuanba swiftly extended a hand in front of Yun Che. Immediately, Yun Che felt the pressure that he was facing lessen by several times as his breathing grew regular once more.
The reason why Xia Yuanba did not enter the Sea God Arena was not because he was uninterested in the secrets of the devil sword. It was to protect Yun Che. Because he was aware of Yun Che’s injuries and the upcoming peril he would face.
On the other side of the Sea God Arena, Fen Juechen had raised his head as well. But he was not looking at a single person. His hungry, wolf-like eyes emitted an extremely malevolent light… as he fiercely stared at the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword that floated in the middle of the Sea God Arena.
The skies grew darker and darker and the originally round sun was covered by so much darkness that only a sliver of it remained in the sky, and even that sliver of light was gradually fading to nothingness… Its color was turning from a scorching orange to a dark red color.
Once the time arrived, even the last smear of dark red light would be completely devoured by the darkness.
In an instant, the world suddenly turned pitch-black as the world was completely engulfed by darkness, without a shred of light. The wind had stopped blowing completely and the air had abruptly turned cold. The entire world seemed to become cold and gloomy as a heavy pressure filled the air. It was as if the entire world had been plunged into a boundless purgatory of darkness.
The Thirteen Star Alignment that only happened once every three thousand years had finally come! Within this three thousand year period, this was also the time when the yin energy in the heavens and earth would be at its richest and most flourishing.
At this time, the Boundless Universe Formation on the Sea God Arena began to fiercely glow with light.
“It is now!” Xuanyuan Wentian gave a roar that ripped through the heavens!
This roar snapped the taut and stretched nerves of all who were present. They immediately responded and fiercely poured out their profound energy in the same instant…
“The Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword existed since the primordial times. It was produced from the foundation and core power of the Primal Chaos Realm, it was also the Primal Chaos Realm’s first sword. It is the ancestor of every single sword and even every single weapon in the world! Ranked first in the Seven Heavenly Profound Treasures, it contains heaven defying strength. The legends say that even a powerless man wielding it, will be able to easily cut through the blue firmament and destroy the heavens.
Jasmine duly described of this sword of legends… and even in the world she was born, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword was also a legendary existence.
“During the Era of Gods, no one had not heard of the name Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword. However, as the divine essence of its first owner, who was also its only owner in records—the head of the three Creation Gods “Mo E”, dissipated entirely and their lifespan ended, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword also disappeared without a trace. No one had ever seen traces of it ever again, until seven hundred thousand years later. In the center of the primal chaos, the silhouette of the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword appeared once again.”
Yun Che: “…”
Jasmine closed her eyes, as if immersing herself within distant memories, and continued narrating unhurriedly. “Because it existed in the middle of the Primal Chaos, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword was discovered by the god and devil races at the same time, and they inevitably wanted it for themselves. This was because by obtaining the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword, they would possess supreme power within the entire Primal Chaos. It was something that none of the gods could resist.”
“Thus, in order to obtain the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword, the southern region of the Primal Chaos world of the gods and the northern region of the Primal Chaos world of the devils waged a fierce war. At first, both sides were simply fighting in order to obtain the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword. As the war became fiercer, as increasing numbers of gods perished at the hands of the devils and increasing numbers of devils were buried by the gods, hatred started to breed, spread and intensify, causing the war between the gods and devils to become more bitter, causing even more gods and devils to perish, and causing the animosity to further deepen…
Yun Che was entranced, however, one sentence roared in his heart tens of times… What did this have to do with the matter of Fen Juechen!?
“The fierce battle between the two races lasted for thirty thousand years, with the devil race starting to collapse, even their northern area of the Primal Chaos was slowly being occupied by the gods. The remnants of the devil race were slowly forced to the corners of the Primal Chaos…”
“In despair, the devil race started a counterattack without a care for the consequences… They sacrificed the taboo device that even they were incomparably terrified of…”
“The Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations!”
Jasmine’s eyebrows trembled for a split second whilst mentioning the name, as if that memory was extremely terrifying… an existence which made even the True Gods tremble.
“Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations?” Yun Che was slightly shocked, then he remembered, “The second ranking of the Seven Great Heavenly Profound Treasures, the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations which is second only to the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword?”
“That’s right.” Jasmine closed her eyes once again, “Although its ranking within the Seven Heavenly Profound Treasures is second after the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword, the extent of its terror far exceeds the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword. Even just based on its slaughtering and destructive capabilities, it could probably even surpass the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword.”
“The Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword was birthed from the purest and most sacred force of the Primal Chaos, it is the strongest and most sacred sword. The Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations on the other hand is the most extreme opposite, it was born from the darkest and most evil forces of the Primal Chaos, containing the most extreme, the most terrifying negative energy. Once that energy is activated, even gods will not be able to control it, not to mention anyone else. Thus, even though the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations had always existed in the northern Primal Chaos, the devil race had always sealed and isolated it with their utmost might, not to mention using its strength, they did not even dare to go near it. Even when they had to continuously retreat during their war with the god race, they had never thought of using the strength of the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations.
“However, the god race utterly defeated the devil race and gradually occupied more and more of the northern Primal Chaos, with the intention of eradicating the devil race. In desperation and grief, the devil race utilized the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations in a frenzy.
Jasmine’s brows could not help but tighten, there was even a hint of pain in her voice, it seemed as if the memory was too horrifying, “When the power of the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations was activated, a wail as if from an infant, yet sinister and terrifying to the extreme spread to every corner of the Primal Chaos, an aura of death and a shadow enveloped every inch of space.
“If it were the god race of the golden age, perhaps they could have banded together to resist the power of the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations, however, although the god race was victorious, thirty thousand years of bitter war had made them pay an extremely disastrous price. The golden age of the gods had withered to a point which words could not describe, they simply did not have the power to resist the destructive strength of the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations. All the gods were either destroyed, severely injured, or were inflicted with evil energy, their divine essence quickly draining. They were better off dead.”
“It was not only the god race which experienced such a disaster, even the devil race who activated the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations had experienced it too. That miserable disaster exceeds your imagination by countless times… Those which were cut down like straws were not simply petty creatures, but True Gods, supreme existences which could easily rule the heavens. In order to survive, the remnant god and devil race could not help but to unite in order to resist the power of the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations, however, it was already too late, both races were forced to the verge of extinction… the power of the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations had also neared its end, just when both races thought they could see the light at the end of the tunnel, the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations released an extremely toxic poison across the skies, leading the god and devil races into an abyss of despair.”
“Poison?” Yun Che subconsciously whispered.
“That kind of poison was called ‘Myriad Tribulations’. Although you are well versed in the arts of poison, you could never have heard of this kind of poison.” Jasmine said apathetically, “It is even scarier than the ‘Heaven Wounding Thought Severing Poison’ that the Sky Poison Pearl can release! It is terrifying to the point that a True God can die by simply touching it!”
Yun Che’s heart trembled, then he suddenly felt puzzled… Heaven Wounding Thought Severing Poison? What was that? How do I not know about it? When he initially used the poisonous strength of the Sky Poison Pearl, although the poison which was released was indeed scary, it was not to a level beyond reason. After using all of the poisonous strength, it was only enough to poison thirty-three cities and seventy-six sects.
…Could it be that when I had obtained the Sky Poison Pearl, the poisonous strength had been depleted already?
Jasmine’s eyes swept across Yun Che and noted his reaction, but developed a different notion, she turned her head and said, “You do not need to feel shocked. Although the Sky Poison Pearl has the words ‘Sky Poison’ in its name, poisonous strength is not its main ability, its main ability is to purify and refine… in fact, it has the most powerful purifying and refining ability in the word!”
“However, even if it is the Sky Poison Pearl’s purifying abilities, whether it can purify the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations’ ‘Myriad Tribulations’ is unknown. The ‘Absolute God Slaying Poison’ that I was inflicted with and the devilish poison which Hong’er was inflicted with both originated from the evil essence of the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations when the ancient devil race used it. If it is able to produce a god slaying poison with simply its remnant aura, even True Gods would not be able to comprehend how terrifying ‘Myriad Tribulations’ is which was produced with the original power of the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations. At least to me, even the Sky Poison Pearl would not be able to purify ‘Myriad Tribulations’. If not, the the god race would not have been entirely wiped out.
“…What happened after that? Were the god and devil races both destroyed just like this?” Yun Che asked in detail.
“That’s right.” Jasmine nodded her head indifferently, “The destruction of the Era of Gods began with the first ranking Sky Profound Treasure, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword, and ended with the second ranking Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations.”
“Back then when I entrusted you with the Evil God’s Indestructible Blood, I had told you that the Evil God was the last god to perish during the Era of Gods. Then, the gods and devils perished, the Primal Chaos was a mess, countless stars and planets and living creatures perished, and the aura of the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations finally dispersed. Although the Evil God had not died, the ‘Terminator of Life’ in his body meant that he could not escape death. During the last moments of his life, he used his last bits of divine power to slow down the chaos within the Primal Chaos to his best ability, then, with his last bits of divine essence, he chose the lands he wanted to perish in… and finally died.”
“Regarding the part about the Evil God, I had obtained pieces of memories when I initially obtained the Evil God’s Indestructible Blood, the Evil God must have deliberately done that while leaving behind his legacy. However, within these memories are many blanks, obviously the Evil God must have deliberately hidden some things that he did not want later generations to know about. Even the lands where he chose to perish and what he did in the last moments of his life, have been meticulously erased.”
From the memories obtained from the Evil God’s Indestructible Blood… that would mean that under the heavens, whatever Jasmine had just said, she was the only one privy to such knowledge.
But! But! But! What did all of these have to do with the matter of Fen Juechen!!!
I only wanted to know what bizarre things had happened with Fen Juechen’s body, why did such ancient matters suddenly come up!!
Although it was rather… interesting to listen!!
Although that was the end of the Era of Gods and was a catastrophe which affected the entire Primal Chaos, it was too distant and vast for Yun Che. Moreover, it did not have anything to do with his present, past or future, he would only find it interesting, and maybe feel a little mind-blown… basically, there was no difference to hearing a made up myth.
On the contrary, he was much more interested in Fen Juechen’s secret!
Chapter 752 - Ancient Devil Art
“And then? Where did the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword and the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations go?” Yun Che asked.
Jasmine slowly shook her head. “Not a clue. The Evil God was the last of the fallen gods, so it’s likely that he knew the final location of the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword and the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations. Yet this was not mentioned in the fragments of the memories he left behind. Perhaps he hid them in the final moments of his life… in order to prevent these items, the sources of the annihilation of the gods, from throwing the world into chaos and disaster once more. He may have hid them in a place where future generations would never be able to find them.”
“But the Primordial Azure Dragon said that his daughter was sealed within the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword, so what’s going on? He wanted me to find the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword by any means.” Yun Che frowned as he thought back to the words the Dragon God said to him at the Wasteland of Death… it could have even been considered a request.
“As if I would know.” Jasmine pursed her lips slightly. “Whether it’s the memories I inherited or records of the Primordial God clan, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword has hardly ever been mentioned. As for your search for it… Hmph, from what I see, it’s completely ridiculous.”
“It hasn’t been that long since the annihilation of the gods, probably only about a million years. During these million years, countless creatures and races have persistently searched for the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword. Even if the gods have been annihilated, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword cannot disappear… Nothing in this world is capable of destroying it. Yet in these million years, no one has ever seen its shadow, much less any trace of it.”
“To this day, there are still numerous people searching for the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword. Not a single person who knows of the name ‘Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword’ doesn’t want to possess it. As for the matter regarding the sealed Dragon God’s daughter, I haven’t heard of such news before. Who knows, we could be the only two in the world to know of this… even though it’s useless information.”
“Then… how about the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations?” Yun Che asked.
“While that evil, demonic weapon also cannot be destroyed by anything in this world, no one will attempt to search for it. Hmph… putting aside the potential waste of effort searching for it, even if it were to appear right in front of someone, it would be avoided out of fear. To possess and use it, one would first have to be eternally damned to hell!”
Jasmine’s voice was frosty, as if she had been influenced by the remnants of a memory, causing her to strongly reject and fear the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations, “After the annihilation of the gods, the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations was also thoroughly hidden and has not appeared for a million years. It was definitely hidden somewhere during the chaos. With a million years of time… the energy used to annihilate gods that went dormant must have awakened once again.”
“Then how about the Primordial Seal of Life and Death that was ranked third? Was it also lost for a million years?” Yun Che asked impatiently. The Primordial Seal of Life and Death… it was the only hope he knew of that could save the Little Demon Empress.
“Of course!” Jasmine replied without hesitation, “Based on the scattered records of the Primordial Seal of Life and Death, it originally belonged to one of the three Creation Gods, a female god named Li Suo. She carried the Primordial Seal of Life and Death with her, and was thus granted immortality barring any accidents. She would not have died or grown old, but in the terrible battle between gods and devils, she perished after being surrounded by a number of devils. The Primordial Seal of Life and Death fell into the hands of the devil race. In the end, since the devil race wielded the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations, the god race never managed to seize back the Primordial Seal of Life and Death.”
“Therefore, the Primordial Seal of Life and Death was lost in the chaos following the eradication of the devil race. In these million years, the number of people who dream of possessing the Primordial Seal of Life and Death are certainly no less than those who desire the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword. The Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword can grant the user an unparalleled strength, but the Primordial Seal of Life and Death can grant immortality as long as the holder isn’t killed.”
“If a person were to possess both…” Jasmine narrowed her eyes. “…they would truly be the master of immortality and chaos.”
“Yet, as I’ve said, it’s possible that the Primordial Seal of Life and Death has already been found. After all, one only needs to carry it on their body to activate its power of immortality. Hiding it out of sight would be simple, and the person who possesses it would do everything in his power to ensure that no one else knows of its existence… not even his own relatives.”
Yun Che pondered for some time before exhaling sharply, almost grinded his teeth, and asked, “All these things that you’ve told me… how exactly are they related to Fen Juechen!?”
“Of course they’re related!” Jasmine threw him a glance, her expression becoming somber. “The profound art he uses is the ‘Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night,’ which is obviously… one of the primordial devil race’s devil arts!”
“Primordial… devil race?” Yun Che’s heart lurched. “Hasn’t the primordial devil race already gone extinct?”
“That’s the reason why I was shocked when Fen Juechen released his power source in response to your provocation.” Jasmine said, frowning.
Yun Che frowned and tentatively asked, “Could it be that… he obtained an inheritance from the primordial devil race? If the gods were able to leave their souls and their blood behind as a legacy, then shouldn’t devils be able to do the same as existences on the same level as gods?”
“No!” Jasmine shook her head. “Although devils and gods have the same divine level of strength, their souls and sources of power are different. In fact, they are diametrically opposed! Before the gods disappeared into extinction, they were furious that they would simply disappear. So they merged their power and souls together to form a spirit. This spirit guarded the last of their blood and will, bestowing their blood and power to others as a means for their existence to endure the Primal Chaos Realm. The spirit and the divine blood left behind are extraordinarily powerful, to the extent that they cannot be naturally eliminated. They have an affinity with this world, and therefore receive the world’s protection.”
“Yet devils are completely different! Devils possess a type of power contrary to the unsullied power of the world. Most devils fear the light. Even if devils left spirits or demonic blood behind, the power of the world would reject it and it would quickly dissipate. It probably wouldn’t last a couple thousand of years, let alone a million. When the Era of Gods ended, most of the legacies that the gods left behind were found, birthing a new ‘Realm of the Gods.’ As for the legacies of the devils, they indeed appeared after the extinction of gods and devils, but each legacy lasted less than ten generations before the power of the world purified it. In a mere thirty thousand years, the legacies of the devils disappeared and were never seen again in the following million years.”
Yun Che, “…”
“And now, after vanishing for a million years, the power of the primordial devil race, which even the Realm of the Gods has almost forgotten, has appeared in such a lowly human. It’s extremely strange.” Jasmine’s frown deepened. Her understanding of gods, devils, the ancient races, and their powers far surpassed Yun Che’s. The shock that Fen Juechen’s dark profound energy caused in Jasmine was something that Yun Che could not understand.
“Since the primordial devil race’s strength vanished such a long time ago, why were you able to recognize it?” Yun Che asked thoughtfully.
Jasmine replied with a straight face, “When I inherited this power, I also inherited fragments of the primordial spirit’s memory. These memories coincidentally recall dark profound energy—or rather, it should be called a dark devil art—that Fen Juechen possesses, which allowed me to recognize it. This type of devil art is called ‘Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night’ and belonged to a high level devil clan which was called the ‘Eternal Night Devil Clan’ in the ancient Era of Gods. To use such a devil art, one must have the corresponding devil blood or devil spirit… similar to your ‘World Ode of the Phoenix’, where you require Phoenix blood to activate certain abilities.”
“This means that Fen Juechen, who has the ‘Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night,’ also inherited the ‘Eternal Night Devil Clan’s devil blood or devil spirit!”
“Devil blood or devil spirit that hasn’t dissipated in a million years!”
“This…” Yun Che felt stranger as the conversation went on, even thinking that this just was not something he could comprehend at his level. Fen Juechen’s earth shattering change in just a few years surely had an unusual reason… but it was certainly unexpected for it to be so extraordinary.
He could feel a headache coming on just listening to Jasmine’s description.
Yun Che considered Jasmine’s reaction and spoke while thinking, “You managed to read Fen Juechen’s memories, so you should know how he got his power, right?”
“I do already know and it’s more interesting than any other method I can think of.” Jasmine’s face grew cold. “His devil art and power comes from… his father.”
“His father?” Yun Che stared at her with wide eyes and said with a face full of disbelief, “That can’t be! I killed his father, Fen Duanhun, with my own two hands. He can’t be still alive. Even if he were, Fen Duanhun’s profound strength is only at the Sky Profound Realm. No matter how…”
“I didn’t say his ‘father’ was Fen Duanhun!” Jasmine’s expression appeared thoughtful.
“…” Yun Che’s expression instantly became strange as he said in a lowly, “Then, Fen Juechen is not Fen Duanhun’s son? Fen Duanhun was cuckolded?”
“Fen Duanhun is indeed Fen Juechen’s biological father, but Fen Juechen has another father… who is also his biological father.”
Yun Che: “~！@#￥%……*” (dumbfounded face)
“Two men… can also… have children?” Yun Che’s voice shook as he audibly gulped.
Chapter 753 - Forbidden Reincarnation Technique
“…” Jasmine used a hard glare reserved for idiots to stare down at Yun Che, “Of course not! It’s just… Fen Juechen is the same as you, a person with two lifetimes!”
“Wh… at!?” Yun Che’s heart jumped.
“But there’s a difference.” Jasmine quickly added, “You had two lives, in the Profound Sky Continent and the Azure Cloud Continent…” Jasmine paused slightly, before she corrected herself, “No, it should be three lives, because you triggered the Mirror of Samsara’s reincarnation powers, and twice, at that. While the Mirror of Samsara’s reincarnation power is in effect it will simultaneously alter… you could say it alters cause and effect. Yet this ability that goes against the gods doesn’t disrupt the laws of cause and effect. In addition, the Mirror of Samsara has many formidable aspects, which is something that even the heavens cannot interfere with.”
“As for Fen Juechen… I had my suspicions when I was sensing his strength and soul at the beginning. But it was just a feeling and I dismissed it soon after. I thought his devil art was derived from his adverse emotions affecting his strength, giving rise to an ordinary devil profound strength. When I read his memories just now, I realized that that flash of speculation I had was the truth… there is the effect of a type of forbidden reincarnation technique on him!”
“Forbidden reincarnation technique? What is that?” Yun Che asked curiously. It was his first time hearing those four words.
“Since it is a forbidden art, it cannot be tolerated by this world, and is fated to be condemned… it even messes with reincarnation.” Jasmine laughed coldly. Within that sound there was a flash of pity towards Fen Juechen, “But the forbidden reincarnation technique on Fen Juechen’s body is of a higher level than what I’m familiar with. Although it has been a thousand years, the spirit is still at least seventy percent whole. This must be because it is the forbidden arts of the ancient devil clan… or more accurately, of the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night!”
Yun Che felt increasingly dazed as Jasmine went on… if he were told directly that Fen Juechen inherited the legacy of a certain primordial devil, it might have been easier for him to process.
“Although it is about seventy percent intact, it is still an incomplete soul. This causes Fen Juechen to have a temperament different from others. He will be more eccentric, sensitive, prone to extremes and will easily lose his temper and self-control.” At Yun Che’s perplexed expression, Jasmine raised an eyebrow. She knew that her explanation was on a level far above what Yun Che was capable of understanding. She had to put it in simpler terms, “Forget it, I’ll just tell you straight up. Fen Juechen’s previous name was Ye Huang. His father in his former life was called Ye Mufeng and his mother was Ye Jianxi!”
“Ye Huang… Ye? Doesn’t this surname solely belong to the Sun Moon Divine Hall? Could it be…”
“No!” Jasmine interrupted Yun Che and stated mildly, “This is currently so, but a thousand years ago, there was another power surnamed Ye… that clan was essentially different from the Sun Moon Divine Hall!”
“Wait!” Yun Che was struck by a sudden thought. Somewhere in the depths of his soul, there was a sense of familiarity towards the names ‘Ye MuFeng’ and ‘Ye Jianxi’. He quickly calmed his heart and followed the pulsing within his soul. He searched through the ancestral memories within the legacy of the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul…
Not a moment later, his understanding of the two names ‘Ye Mufeng’ and ‘Ye Jianxi’ became crystal clear in his mind, and he whispered in surprise, “Eternal Night… Royal Family!?”
Other than the Four Great Sacred Grounds, the most detailed and extensive records for the Eternal Night Royal Family that was decimated a thousand years ago would belong to the Frozen Cloud Asgard. Within the ancestral memories of the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul, the last Eternal Night King of the Eternal Night Royal Family was called Ye Mufeng!
And the last Eternal Night Queen… the benefactor of Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Mu Bingyun, was called Ye Jianxi!
“That’s right!” Jasmine spoke in a low murmur, “Ye Mufeng was the last king of the Eternal Night Family whom the Four Great Sacred Grounds jointly annihilated. Ye Jianxi was then the Eternal Night Queen. Ye Huang was their only son, who was also the Eternal Night Royal Family’s last prince… and the 《Eternal Night Illusory God Record》, which is the core profound art of the Eternal Night Royal Family, actually is the primordial Eternal Night Devil Clan’s 《Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night》! Even the name Eternal Night Royal Family was derived from the Eternal Night Devil Clan!”
“There… was… such a thing?” Yun Che’s mind was now a blank sea. If it wasn’t for Jasmine personally explaining it, even if he retained the knowledge from two lives, he would have never linked Fen Juechen, who was clearly the son of Burning Heaven Clan’s leader with the Eternal Night Royal Family decimated a thousand years ago. What’s more, he would never have expected that a mere twenty year old person would actually be an Eternal Night Prince from a thousand years ago!
“Then what exactly is the forbidden reincarnation technique? Could it be that Fen Juechen’s soul is Ye Huang’s from a thousand years ago? If you knew all these through reading Fen Juechen’s mind, does it mean he has regained his memories from his previous life? What’s the deal with the Eternal Night Royal Family’s profound art?” Yun Che’s head was bursting with countless questions, and each obscure question was like a great mystery of the world, something he could not think through and understand.
Jasmine didn’t answer any of his questions upfront, but went on by herself, “A thousand years ago, the Eternal Night Royal Family was jointly annihilated by the Four Great Sacred Grounds. The Eternal Night Prince, Ye Huang, was brutally killed. To save her son, the Eternal Night Queen, Ye Jianxi disobeyed the ancestors’ strict orders and employed the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night’s forbidden technique. She forcefully confined Ye Huang’s vanishing soul and blood essence, and used twenty percent of Ye Mufeng’s soul as a sacrifice to activate the forbidden reincarnation technique that violated the laws of heaven. Doing so, Ye Huang’s soul and blood essence would never dissipate, and under special circumstances could reincarnate in another person’s body.
“It was evident that the Eternal Night king and queen already foresaw the Eternal Night Royal Family, and used such a method to preserve their bloodline… otherwise they would never go against their ancestors’ orders to use a forbidden technique condemned by the heavens.”
Yun Che: “…”
Jasmine knew that the different dimensions of souls was something the current Yun Che would never truly grasp. She said bluntly, “Simply put, Ye Huang died a thousand years ago, both his body and soul. With the help of twenty percent of Ye Mufeng’s soul, Ye Jianxi activated the devil clan’s forbidden technique and used his soul to forcefully revive Ye Huang’s soul. She then initiated the forbidden reincarnation technique, preventing Ye Huang’s revived soul and blood essence from dissipating within a short period of time. If it comes across an infant who died within six hours of birth, Ye Huang’s soul and bloodline could be preserved and reincarnated into that body.”
“That means, the real Fen Juechen died shortly after he was born. The current Fen Juechen who is Fen Duanhun’s third son, has a mixed bloodline from the Burning Heaven Clan and the Eternal Night Royal Family, but he has Ye Huang’s soul, which was wandering around for a thousand years?” Yun Che stated dazedly.
What the hell, this is even more complicated than me reincarnating twice!
In this universe, there really is every kind of monster and demon!
“That’s right. But the soul isn’t just solely Ye Huang’s soul, but a fusion of Ye Huang and Ye Mufeng, with the former as the main. Under the protection of the forbidden reincarnation technique, only thirty percent of the soul has dissipated within a thousand years of wandering.” Jasmine explained.
Although the process and forbidden technique were things that Yun Che knew nothing of and could not comprehend, he did at least understand the result. He muttered to himself, then slowly said, “Then, Fen Juechen’s sudden change is because after he was reincarnated into this body, the bloodline and soul which had been dormant for twenty years were awakened?”
“The bloodline has always existed in him, so you can’t say it has been awakened. Even if it’s the Eternal Night Devil Clan’s forbidden reincarnation technique, the bloodline in the body used for reincarnation will not be able to sustain its previous strength. As for the soul, based on Ye Huang’s incomplete soul, I recall it would take thirty years to awaken if there are no other factors in play. But something happened. With half-lidded eyes, Jasmine continued, “Four years ago, once you left after you annihilated the Burning Heaven Clan, Fen Yijue used his last breath to entrust a pitch-black key to Fen Juechen whom you spared.”
“A pitch-black key? What’s that?” Yun Che asked doubtfully.
“When Fen Yijue handed over the key to Fen Juechen, he said that this was a forbidden item passed down by their ancestors. In it lies a terrifying forbidden secret, and was only to be used when the Burning Heaven Clan faced impending annihilation. But it seems like even he did not know what the secret was. Fen Juechen acted according to the inscriptions carved by profound energy on the key, and travelled to Black Fiend Nation’s land of enormity, where no sun nor moon has shone over in ten thousand years. He used that key and opened… a Soul Sealing Coffin sealed a thousand year old soul!”
“In that Soul Sealing Coffin, what was sealed was… Ye Mufeng’s remaining soul!”
“Huh?” Yun Che was once again stunned… this bullshit! The biggest and most incredulous joke he had heard in his life couldn’t even compare to this!
Yun Che’s memories reverted to the first day he had officially joined the Frozen Cloud Asgard as a disciple. While reminiscing, he said slowly, “At that time, Grand Mistress Feng Qianhui, spoke to me about the Eternal Night Royal Family from a thousand years ago, and briefly mentioned the Eternal Night King’s final state. She said that the Eternal Night King’s wife and son met a tragic death, and his entire clan was annihilated. Through extreme hatred and sorrow. he was suddenly devilized. He became the first person in the whole of the Profound Sky to have been truly devilized. After his transformation, the Eternal Night King abnormally grew stronger, but he still could not defend against the Four Great Sacred Grounds’ alliance, and was eventually killed by them. Although his body was destroyed, his soul lingered for a long time… as if his devilized profound energy caused his soul to undergo a fundamental change.”
“And so, the Four Great Sacred Grounds could only seal the Eternal Night King’s soul in a Soul Sealing Coffin… Feng Qianhui also said, the Eternal Night King’s soul should have dissipated over a thousand years of time.”
“What Fen Juechen found was that Soul Sealing Coffin!?”
(For those who can’t remember, please refer to chapter 381)
If it wasn’t for the Soul Sealing Coffin, the Eternal Night King, Ye Mufeng’s soul would definitely have dissipated. The irony here is that the Soul Sealing Coffin sealed Ye Mufeng’s soul, but at the same time, it also protected it! What’s even more ironic is that the Soul Sealing Coffin was hidden in Profound Sky Continent’s Black Fiend Nation, where the densest yin energy is present. The aura there not only prolonged the dissipation of Ye Mufeng’s soul, but it also helped to stave off the dissipation to a certain degree. With all this, it allowed Ye Mufeng’s soul to retain about forty percent of his soul while lasting over a thousand years.”
“…” Yun Che frowned, pondering.
Fen Juechen borrowed a body and reincarnated into the Burning Heaven Clan… The key to the Soul Sealing Coffin happened to be with the Burning Heaven Clan instead of any of the Four Great Sacred Grounds… even if these were coincidences, wouldn’t they have been too serendipitous?
The Soul Sealing Coffin sealed but at the same time also ‘protected’… the land with the densest yin energy within the country with the densest yin energy… preventing the Eternal Night King’s devil soul, which should have dissipated over a thousand years from doing so…
Finally, it was Fen Juechen who held the key and opened the Soul Sealing Coffin…
All these coincidences coalesced and seemed more like a well-devised plan instead!
But annihilating the Burning Heaven Clan was done by my own hand, and me heeding Little Aunt’s request to spare Fen Juechen led to Fen Juechen obtaining the key to the Soul Sealing Coffin… then this shouldn’t have been a well-devised plan.
Could it be that coincidences to such a degree actually exist in the world…
Or could it be that the heavens pitied the Eternal Night Royal Family’s tragic fate?
While he was mumbling, another thought struck him, and he frowned, “The Eternal Night Illusory God Record is the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night, but it should be an extinct primordial devil art… if so, that means that a thousand years ago, Eternal Night King Ye Mufeng’s devilization was not the devilization everyone knew of, but…”
“That’s right!” Jasmine nodded and spoke affirmatively, “What he released from his body was the bound devil blood that had been always in him!”
Yun Che: “…”
Once the seal on the devil bloodline was unshackled, Ye Mufeng’s innate profound strength and the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night’s power proliferated, surpassing any one of the leaders of the Sacred Grounds. However, releasing the devil blood should be something only the royal bloodline of the Eternal Night Royal Family can do, or else the Eternal Night Royal Family would never have been annihilated so easily. Also, judging the condition of Ye Mufeng’s soul, once the seal on the devil blood is unshackled, it will cause a permanent drastic change in one’s temperament and will. Also, there is no way to reseal the devil blood… but these are just my conjectures. The portion of memories on this part is sadly lacking.”
Fen Juechen’s soul fused with Ye Mufeng’s, and naturally, their memories were also fused. Thus, when Jasmine attempted to read Fen Juechen’s memories, she read both Fen Juechen’s and Ye Mufeng’s memories at the same time. But because Ye Mufeng’s soul was slowly dissipating over a thousand years, his remaining memories were also scattered and incomplete.
Author’s Note: Isn’t Fen Juechen’s matter a bit complicated? In fact, young group of translators, the time to put you guys to the test has come, hahahahahahahaha…
alyschu: ‘ 3’…
Chapter 754 - The Strange Heavenly Sin Divine Sword
“…The surrounding towns of the core lands of the Eternal Night Royal Family were suddenly enveloped in a black fog overnight. Everyone within the towns, whether they were almighty profound practitioners or powerless women or children, were violently killed… Soon enough, all blame landed on the Eternal Night Royal Family because when the Eternal Night Royal Family’s core profound art, the Eternal Night Illusory God Record, was invoked, a black fog would envelope the user’s body. The bodies of those who died under the Eternal Night Illusory God Record were blackened and enveloped in a black fog that persisted for more than a few days.
“…After that, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region was the first to question them. They named the Eternal Night Royal Family as a sinful, devil clan; massacring innocents in order to enhance their devilish strength. In the name of protecting the Profound Sky Continent and to get rid of evils, they then joined forces with the other three Sacred Grounds to annihilate the Eternal Night Royal Family…”
This was what Feng Qianhui had told him regarding the Eternal Night Royal Family back then, that Mighty Heavenly Sword Region had implicated the Eternal Night Royal Family.
The name “Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night” could be altered, but the attribute of “darkness” could never be changed, thus the profound aura of the Eternal Night Royal Family would always be black…
Using underhanded means, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region framed the Eternal Night Royal Family as an “evil devil clan.”
However, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region would never have dreamed that the Eternal Night Royal Family, who bore the devil’s soul and blood, and cultivated the “Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night” could indeed be labelled as a devil clan!
In fact, they were a primordial devil clan!
“Jasmine, you mentioned that the reason why Fen Juechen’s power had increased explosively was because he had merged with a devil soul. Could that devil soul be the remnant soul of Ye Mufeng, who was sealed in the Soul Sealing Coffin?” Regarding the issue which Jasmine had yet to bring up, Yun Che had gradually formed an outline of the situation in his heart.
“Back then, after the Soul Sealing Coffin had been opened by Fen Juechen, Ye Mufeng’s remnant soul had wanted to seize Fen Juechen’s body, because at that point in time Fen Juechen’s body carried an extremely dense resentment. It could be said that his negative feelings were at its peak; it was simply a body bestowed by the heavens. However, Fen Juechen’s willpower was too strong. He was countered when attempting to devour Fen Juechen’s soul. At the same time, he discovered that Fen Juechen was actually Ye Huang who had reincarnated and thus gave up struggling. This allowed Fen Juechen to counter-devour his soul and also using his remaining willpower and all his might, he transferred the origin power which was sealed within the remnant soul into Fen Juechen’s body, allowing him to slowly absorb and assimilate it.
“Is this type of absorption a property exclusively belonging to the Eternal Night Devil Clan or the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night?” Yun Che asked right after. This was because Jasmine had clearly said that the direct transference of Profound Strength and legacies were extremely difficult tasks.
With Fen Juechen’s assimilation of devil origin, it became a direct transfer or inheritance of profound energy. In just a short few years, he leapt from the Spirit Profound Realm to the Sovereign Profound Realm. It was a mythical jump of five profound realms!
“Of course not! If that were so, then the devil race would not have been crushed by the god race during the Primordial Era. This was possible and realized because the forbidden reincarnation technique created an exceptional and strange coincidence.” Jasmine said blandly. She was initially shocked and could not comprehend Fen Juechen’s ability to directly absorb the concealed devil origin in his body, but she was now speaking in a calm and deadpan manner; an attestation that the truth of the matter did not deviate too far from her scope of knowledge.
“Coincidence?”
“As I’ve said, a thousand years ago, in order to secure Ye Huang’s soul, the Eternal Night Royal Family activated the forbidden reincarnation technique where Ye Mufeng separated a fifth of his soul and fused it into Ye Huang’s soul. Fen Juechen’s soul is in essence Ye Huang and Ye Mufeng’s souls melded, with Ye Huang as the dominant party. Although this vestige of Ye Mufeng’s soul and the soul in the coffin he integrated originate from the same person, there is an inherently distinct difference. The latter is a subsequently devoured soul similar to prey, but the former is his original soul!”
“Since these two parts of essentially different souls trace back to Ye Mufeng, they were able to assimilate with Ye Mufeng’s devil origin perfectly, and allow Fen Juechen’s soul to co-exist with Ye Mufeng’s devil origin to a certain degree of harmony. In addition, the devil origin is completely malleable, allowing Fen Juechen to directly absorb the power melded within the devil origin and utilize it as his own power.
“It’s just that this kind of harmony covers only a small portion after all. So even though Fen Juechen is able to directly absorb the devil origin, the speed of absorption will be sluggish. It’s been several years but he has only managed to absorb less than half, and during the process of absorption… the pain will be unfathomable, especially in the initial stages. Due to the existence of some incompatibility, while he bears this power, his body and soul will endure a pain similar to constant ripping and shredding… that kind of pain is something that no normal person can bear.”
“…” Yun Che remained silent. This should be the aforementioned “hell” by Fen Juechen.
“At the same time, the external energy that cannot fully meld will also reduce his lifespan. If he ceases the absorption and maintains this current state, he can live for another three years at most. If he persists in absorbing devil origin, his remaining lifespan will shorten further.” Jasmine sneered, “Hmph, how could the transfer and inheritance of power be that simple! If it were anyone else faced with such a price, even if it was for the sake of a power ten times stronger, they would still absolutely refuse. Only Fen Juechen, with such a dark life history, would choose this hopeless road.
“Which is why, even though both of you experienced two lives, you were blessed by the Mirror of Samsara, enjoying impossibly good luck that could incur the wrath of heaven! But Fen Juechen… he could even be named as the most pitiful existence in the whole Profound Sky Continent. Bearing a shattered life, a shattered soul, saddled with the grievances of two clans over two eras, and enduring a living hell of pain with every breath.
“He paid such a price in exchange for power, yet he was thwarted by you, and shown mercy by you… Hmph, the consequent unjustness, humiliation and resentment would be ingrained in him more deeply than you can imagine.”
“The thought of casually killing him did cross my mind, but because he was pitiful to such an extent, I thought to spare his life. He won’t have much time left anyway, and with me around, he won’t be able to kill you.” Jasmine’s tone shifted slightly, and continued, seemingly more meaningfully, “Even without me, he still won’t be able to kill you. Let him keep his wretched life to kill whoever else he wants to. After all, you are one of the last few amongst those he wants dead, contrary to expectations.”
“The others he wants dead… could they be from the Four Great Sacred Grounds?” Yun Che asked.
“Of course! Ultimately it was the Four Great Sacred Grounds who annihilated the innocent Eternal Night Royal Family, and were the perpetrators of his tragedy. His sole motive for staying alive till today is revenge!”
With the word “revenge,” Yun Che couldn’t help but recall his last seven years in the Azure Cloud Continent…
The sole motive for staying alive till today was revenge… weren’t these the words ringing in his soul almost every day, every night, inundating his every breath and moment…?
Perhaps, in this world, the person who could truly understand the present Fen Juechen’s completely twisted belief… would be Yun Che.
But the difference was, during that time, other than revenge, he had Ling’er…
Just that…
“When revenge eclipses all else and becomes your sole belief, any other advice, any other impediments will become virtually useless. However, with the little remaining life that he has, no matter how fast his speed of growth, he could never reach a level where he poses a threat to the Sacred Grounds, much less take any revenge…” Yun Che paused, as if suddenly recalling something. He frowned deeply and said, “A thousand years ago, Ye Mufeng’s strength alone was not enough to overpower any of the Sacred Grounds’ masters, but after he released his devil blood, all four Sacred Grounds’ masters had to join hands to defeat him. Fen Juechen is a direct descendant of the royal bloodline, so is it possible…”
“Of course it’s possible!” Jasmine replied assertively, “Although thirty percent of the inherited blood was lost due to the forbidden reincarnation technique, there’s still about seventy percent that was retained. Also, Fen Juechen already knows the method to release the confined devil blood inside him.”
“And that is… the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword!”
“…It’s no wonder why he is participating in the Devil Sword Conference and wants possession of the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword.” Yun Che murmured, “It’s for the sake of releasing the confined devil blood. Since the key to releasing the devil blood lies in the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword, then, would he have the ability to control the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword?”
“He won’t be able to!” Jasmine shook her head, “During that time, Ye Mufeng surpassed Fen Juechen, whether it was his profound strength or the density of his devil blood. Even after the devil blood was released, he was still unable to control the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword. Come to think of it…” Jasmine considered Yun Che, “Aren’t you curious why the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword is able to release the Eternal Night Royal Family’s devil blood?”
“I’m guessing… the Eternal Night Royal Family’s devil blood originated from the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword?” Yun Che asked cautiously.
“Hmph, you’ve guessed it!” Unknowingly, Jasmine had strolled over to the sound obstruction barrier made for Hong’er. Watching the blissfully sleeping Hong’er, a gleam of tenderness flashed across Jasmine’s icy gaze, “According to Ye Mufeng’s memories, ten thousand years ago, the ancestors who established the Eternal Night Royal Family unexpectedly found the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword in a deserted place, south of the continent. When the Eternal Night Ancestor picked the sword up, he couldn’t sense the mighty aura of a sword, but a strange aura of darkness. Just when he was about to abandon the sword, he inadvertently brushed against a drop of black liquid on the hilt… within that moment of contact, the drop of black liquid instantly absorbed into his body.”
“Devil… blood!?” Yun Che exclaimed.
“Though the power of the bloodline contained within was weak, it was still on a different and much higher level, and once the devil blood entered his body the nature of his profound strength changed rapidly. Even his soul was affected, which caused his temperament to change greatly as well. However, it was fortunate that the Eternal Night Ancestor possessed great profound strength. Although his temperament became violent and explosive, it didn’t tamper with his character so much as to land him in a state where he became a bloodthirsty creature. Essentially, he fully retained his logic and reasoning, clearly aware that these changes originated from the devil blood.”
“And so, after he established the Eternal Night Royal Family, he decreed that all his newborn, direct descendants had to seal at least ninety percent of the devil bloodline, seizing the opportunity while the inherited bloodline was weak! Unless they faced a catastrophe, they were absolutely forbidden from releasing the seal. For a whole ten thousand years everyone obeyed. The Heavenly Sin Divine Sword became the entire clan’s sacred yet forbidden item, and they protected and looked over it for generations. For every generation, with the exception of the Eternal Night King, no one was allowed to come close or lay a finger on it, much less allow it to fall into another’s hands. The appellation Heavenly Sin Divine Sword was given by the Eternal Night Ancestor, meaning: those who carelessly lay a finger on it will have sinned and invoked heaven’s divine wrath!”
“Then, what about the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night? Where did it come from?” Yun Che asked.
“Similarly from the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword!” Jasmine knitted her eyebrows slightly, “The Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night was obtained from the sword by the same Eternal Night Ancestor. Just by removing the word ‘devil,’ the name was then changed to the Eternal Night Illusory God Record. It wasn’t mentioned within the inherited memories of the Eternal Night Royal Family how it was retrieved, clearly denying the knowledge to any descendants. Relying on this diluted devil blood and the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night, the Eternal Night Royal Family achieved the greatest strength, at the highest level on the Profound Sky Continent, within a short period of time.”
“The devil blood… the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night… both originated from the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword! But where did that sword come from? Why would it have the blood and art of the devil clan which were eliminated a million years ago?” Yun Che asked solemnly. This, he feared, could be the crux of the whole issue.
Jasmine’s tiny face was equally solemn, “This is also the point I’m most concerned about. Before the Eternal Night Ancestor obtained it, the Profound Sky Continent had absolutely not an iota of record on the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword. It was as if the sword appeared from thin air. The Eternal Night Royal Family does not know of its origins, nor does anyone else. However, we should be getting our answers soon…”
“Two months later, head to Supreme Ocean Palace and attend the Devil Sword Conference while you’re investigating the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest! I’d like to see exactly what secret that Heavenly Sin Divine Sword has! I can only hope that whatever is inside hasn’t dissipated during these ten thousand years!”
Jasmine’s voice had dipped; for the devil blood and art to have reappeared after a million years, even if it occurred in the Realm of the Gods, it would still be an earth shattering event. However, her expression was still calm, because on the Profound Sky Continent, even if she were to exhibit a small portion of her power, there was nothing that was not within her control.
“I’ve got it.” Yun Che nodded and inhaled a little, on one hand digesting the information that Jasmine loaded him with today, and on the other, sinking further into his rumination.
“What are you thinking about? Did it suddenly occur to you that what you’ve witnessed in your past two lives have been completely insignificant?” Jasmine slightly tilted her exquisite, doll-like face up, speaking in a patronizing tone and attitude.
“I’m thinking about… Fen Juechen’s situation.” Yun Che lifted his head, staring into the white expanse of the Sky Poison Pearl, “He is indeed as you described him to be, beyond pitiful and lamentable. His most pitiful aspect would be… he thought he had nothing, no relatives, only vengeance, yet fate arranged for him to stumble upon his former father’s soul. However, this father of his gave him not familial warmth to rely on as he lived his life, but turned him into a vessel for vengeance… you could even call him a tool.”
The remnants of Ye Mufeng’s soul recognized that Fen Juechen was Ye Huang. He should therefore be clear that this transference of his own memories and devil origin to Fen Juechen will cause the latter to gain immense power, but at the same time, to inherit and bear an unfathomable agony. Even his lifespan would be suddenly cut to just a few years, essentially turning him into a marionette whose sole purpose was revenge…
During that time, they ignored the consequences, disobeyed their ancestor’s instructions and activated the forbidden reincarnation technique on Ye Huang. This was in order to allow him to live on, continuing the bloodline of the Eternal Night Royal Family. But a thousand years later, Ye Mufeng’s remnant soul personally destroyed all of this, completely destroying all the effort put into preserving their son’s life…
This was absolutely not something a father would do.
“Should the current Fen Juechen be successful in his quest for vengeance, I fear he may no longer have any further attachments to the mortal world.” Yun Che murmured, rather emotionally. Just as the words left his mouth, the silhouette of Xiao Lingxi wavered across his vision…
Perhaps, there was still…
Jasmine was naturally clear on Yun Che’s hint, and she sneered, “The thousand year devil blood released by Ye Mufeng caused his soul to subsequently change its nature, and his temperament naturally followed suit to change greatly. This remnant soul bore a thousand years of suffering; at that time, his willpower, his vengeance, both were exponentially greater than his son’s! This is the devil! The devil that warps a human’s nature!”
“The devil… is indeed a fearsome thing! Fen Juechen, that guy…” Yun Che sighed in frustration, “I still really wish he could live a couple of years longer. Little Aunt’s heart is softer than cotton—she will surely be deluged in sorrow for a long time.”
“Also, his heart holds the most hatred for Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. It seems like he and I both have a common enemy… and there’s also that Sun Moon Divine Hall.”
Chapter 755 - Heavenly Sword Villa’s Distinguished Guests
After staying in Floating Cloud City for three days, Yun Che had fully recuperated from his injury and replenished his profound strength. On the fourth morning, Yun Che and Feng Xue’er bade farewell to Xiao Lingxi and the others, riding the Primordial Profound Ark toward Blue Wind Imperial City. They planned on stopping at Blue Wind Imperial City for two days before making their way to Frozen Cloud Asgard.
Number One Under Heaven had chosen to stay in Floating Cloud City to focus on the safety of Number Seven Under Heaven, worried that a mishap might befall her.
The Primordial Profound Ark traveled through space and arrived at Blue Wind Imperial City instantaneously.
A duration of three months was not enough for the Blue Wind Imperial Family to completely restore peace from the chaos of war, but it made a world of a difference regarding atmosphere. After discovering that Yun Che had a “mysterious master” behind him which even Sun Moon Divine Hall was afraid of, Feng Hengkong’s gestures were not simply to compensate them, but also to express goodwill. Within the span of two months, not only had he proactively sent additional Divine Phoenix soldiers to assist Blue Wind Empire, he also delivered forty thousand kilograms of purple crystals to them in three shipments.
Compared to the fifty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal they had “stolen” from the Blue Wind Empire, this eighty thousand catty of purple crystals was but a paltry sum. However, it was still a considerable sum of wealth and resources. At the same time, it served as a sign of their “goodwill” toward the Blue Wind Empire in the eyes of others. Additionally, a rumor that the Divine Phoenix Nation left behind their snow princess in the Blue Wind Empire caused the rest of the five nations of the Profound Sky to become ill at ease. Every nation sent envoys and even monarchs to frequently visits with presents. Their attitude became humble, as if they were facing the Divine Phoenix Nation.
When Yun Che and Feng Xue’er arrived at Blue Wind Imperial City, Cang Yue was reading through the status of reconstruction and resettlement of the various areas within Blue Wind. With Yun Che back, everything else would naturally take a backseat.
“Husband, you returned at just the right time. I something important to tell you.”
Although she said it was “something important,” Cang Yue’s beautiful eyes held a hint of amusement. “The somewhat secret plan where the Divine Phoenix Nation wanted to let younger sister Xue’er marry you has somehow spread like wildfire. Even the rest of the five nations are aware of it. Yesterday, the Navy Tide sent their envoy to propose a marriage between their princess Hanyu and yourself, thereby securing an alliance of marriage like that of Qin and Jin with our Blue Wind Empire.”
Qin? Jin? What?*
“Ah?” Feng Xue’er cried softly and stared at Yun Che with her beautiful glistening eyes.
“Mn? Yue’er, judging by your appearance… don’t tell me that you agree?” Yun Che touches his nose.
Cang Yue said with a smile, “Princess Hanyu is not an ordinary princess. She is the youngest daughter of the Navy Tide monarch. She is less than twenty years old this year but is already well known. There was a rumor circulating that, not only was she extremely beautiful but she is also the most intelligent daughter of the Navy Tide monarch. She is the most beloved daughter of Navy Tide’s monarch by far and was named the Frost Navy Princess of Jade. They have taken the initiative this time to make the proposal on the marriage, so it shows their sincerity.
“They brought a portrait of Princess Hanyu. I took a glance and felt that you might like her, so I did not decline.”
Cang Yue… and everyone else were well aware that part of the reason why the five nations of Profound Sky changed their attitude toward Blue Wind was because of the Divine Phoenix Empire, while the main reason was Yun Che… a man who had caused even the Divine Phoenix Nation to have no choice but to give in.
Although he was merely the prince consort of Blue Wind during the reign of Cang Wanhe, he had henceforth undoubtedly become the ruling “monarch” in the eyes of other nations.
As she spoke, Cang Yue placed an exquisite portrait scroll in front of Yun Che, her eyes brimming with joy and contentment… She did not reject Navy Tide and had even kept the portrait. This was not meant to tease Yun Che. She thought he might genuinely like her. As long as he showed the tiniest bit of fondness, she would accept the arrangement. As for the ties between the two nations… they were secondary.
Oh, it’s good to be powerful. Even beautiful princesses are knocking at the door… Yun Che thought to himself. He took the scroll but did not unroll it. Instead, he asked with a serious expression, “Yue’er, is this Princess Hanyu as pretty as Xue’er?”
Cang Yue was startled for a moment, but then shook her head with a smile. “Xue’er is like the embodiment of a heavenly fairy, her beauty can put the sun and moon to shame. Princess Hanyu is undoubtedly a ravishing beauty, but she is nowhere near comparable to Little Sister Xue’er.”
“Oh!” Yun Che nodded and then put the scroll down. “In that case, forget it. I would not be interested in a girl I have not even met before, much less marry her… unless she were as pretty as Xue’er.”
“Hee…” Feng Xue’er laughed. “Big Brother Yun, you are flattering me again.”
Cang Yue retrieved the scroll and said with a smile, “The envoy of Navy Tide is still in the city. If my husband does not like it, then I really will reject them you know?”
“Mm, reject them firmly and with any kind of reason.” Yun Che said with a helpless expression. A man married to any woman from a family with even the slightest bit of power would face countless objections to taking a concubine. With her status as Blue Wind Nation’s monarch, Cang Yue was instead pampering him to the heavens…
Yun Che suddenly noticed that, among the jade scrolls placed next to Cang Yue’s hand, there was a green male eagle imprinted on the topmost jade scroll. This imprint… was obviously the unique “Heavenly Eagle Imprint” that belonged to the Xiao Sect!
“Have the people from Xiao Sect been here recently?” Yun Che asked in a casual manner. It was not surprising for them to have visited.
“Mn.” Cang Yue nodded gently. “Since two months ago, Xiao Sect has been constantly seeking an audience. Each time, it was the Xiao Sect Master, Xiao Juetian, who came personally. Since I still feel some resentment toward them, I have never agreed to meet with them. A few days ago, they attempted to send these jade scrolls, pledging their loyalty to our royal family and placing their services at our disposal.”
During the three years of invasion by Divine Phoenix, the Xiao Sect did not put up any resistance. The fact that they stooped to grovelling could be written off and ignored, but they also provided resources to support the Divine Phoenix Army as “tribute.” This greatly bolstered the Divine Phoenix Army’s ability to conquer Blue Wind. With a complete reversal in circumstances, they would naturally be terrified and restless, desperately rushing to grand gestures of apology and expressing their loyalty.
“Xiao Sect.” Yun Che sneered,ut his smile immediately vanished as he thought of something. “What about Heavenly Sword Villa, did they show up during this period?”
At the mention of “Heavenly Sword Villa,” Cang Yue’s radiant smile slightly subsided. She shook her head gently. “No. Back then, when my royal father was killed and Blue Wind was in a perilous situation, Heavenly Sword Villa’s indifference angered me. They also said that they’re breaking off all ties and swear that we would be enemies henceforth. Now that the Blue Wind Empire has managed to endure this adversity and rebuild, Heavenly Sword Villa… is acting as if nothing happened before, as if they do not exist.”
Cang Yue’s expression and tone were calm, as if she were apparently taking things quite lightly. Yet, from her disappearing smile, it was clear that she was unable to get over this matter.
She had personally written to them nine times. She was an empress, yet she had to resort to pleading for their help… To avoid any retaliation, Heavenly Sword Villa betrayed her and rejected her pleas. She could have accepted the first few rejections, but her nine pleas yielded nine counts of apathy. Without even a shadow of a reply, it was as if the Blue Wind Imperial Family did not exist.
That was a kind of resentment and humiliation that would never be forgotten.
Three months ago, when the Divine Phoenix Army retreated and gave various forms of apologies and compensation to Blue Wind, striving to express their goodwill, Heavenly Sword Villa did not visit the imperial family a single time…
“Hmph, that’s right. They don’t have the face to show up.” Yun Che laughed coldly, his laughter carrying an underlying gloominess that Cang Yue and Feng Xue’er did not understand. “It’s fine if they don’t come, I have wanted to pay them a visit anyway… Let’s make it today, then!”
Blue Wind Nation, Heavenly Sword Villa.
The atmosphere of Heavenly Sword Villa was especially solemn and rigid because the villa had received distinguished guests, with terrifyingly high statuses.
The arrival of these two people caused the auras of the swords surrounding Heavenly Sword Villa to undergo tremendous changes.
“For two elders to personally make a trip to our villa… I, Yuefeng, am extremely perplexed. If I had known of the two elders’ arrival earlier, Yuefeng would have summoned the whole villa to welcome you from a hundred miles away.”
Ling Yuefeng’s respectful posture belied his fear. He personally served tea to his two distinguished guests… It was a hundred year old collection known as the Swordgreen Tea, a tea so precious that he would usually be unwilling to drink it.
“It is a pleasant surprise that both uncles are here. You should have notified Yufeng in advance so that I could welcome you along with my husband.”
Compared to Ling Yuefeng, Xuanyuan Yufeng was more at ease. Although the two distinguished guests present were indeed her uncles in terms of seniority, both of them had showered her with tender loving care when she was young.
The two people appeared to be past their fifties, but their hair and beards were still black. The man on the left wore a green gown, had a medium build, and wore a cheerful expression. The one on the right wore a gray gown, was slightly taller than the other, and had a thick beard that reached his chest. He similarly had a warm expression. If one were to look purely at their appearance, they were both simply two gentle, middle-aged men, but to sword expert Ling Yuefeng, he could sense gusts of cold from them… Even though they were just sitting there, their profound energy suppressed, a formless sword energy shrouded them. The sword energy was majestic, as if were a boundless, immeasurably deep ocean.
Their eyebrows were shaped, pointing upwards as if two sharp swords were stabbing into the sky, and instilled fear in others.
“Hoho.” The elder dressed in green said with a mild smile, “The two of us were instructed by the Sword Master to make a trip to the Black Fiend Nation, and before we departed, Ninth Elder made a request. Once we settled matters in Black Fiend Nation, we made a detour here.”
Xuanyuan Yufeng stepped forward and said, “This must be an important task since the Sword Master himself gave these instructions, and it was personally attended to by both elders. With such an important matter on hand, both elders still made a detour to visit us. We are certainly honored.”
The elder dressed in gray stroked his long beard and said with a mild smile, “ Not at all. We are obliged to fulfill Ninth Elder’s request. Yuefeng can be considered a part of our Sword Region, and Yufeng is all the more so. Both of you should ease up on the formality, hohohoho.”
“For my father-in-law to have requested both elders to come personally… should he have any instructions, Yuefeng will be happy to fulfill them.” Ling Yuefeng said respectfully. If it was three years ago, he would not have dared to say “father-in-law,” but he was now used to it.
“It’s nothing that important.” The elder in green said with a dull smile, “Ninth Elder likes Ling Jie very much. Ever since he left the Sword Region to return here, Ninth Elder has missed him daily even though it has been less than half a year. He instructed us to bring Ling Jie on our way back once we settled issues in Black Fiend Nation.”
“If neither of you have anything important to attend to, it would be best to return with us.” The elder in gray continued, “Ninth Elder rarely smiles, but he is always overjoyed when he reunites with all of you.”
Ling Yuefeng and Xuanyuan Yufeng smiled at each other, their faces revealing joy. Xuanyuan Yufeng and her father Xuanyuan Jue had originally “severed” their ties, but Xuanyuan Yufeng was the only daughter of Xuanyuan Jue after all. After some time, the anger subsided. Although he missed his daughter, it was difficult for him to admit it because of his pride. Three years ago, when both husband and wife brought Ling Yun and Ling Jie back to the sword region, the strained relationship began to soften… Furthermore, Xuanyuan Jue liked Ling Jie so much that not only had he personally guided him in swordplay, but he also spent a generous amount of the sword region’s resources on him. This helped Ling Jie’s profound strength and sword art to improve tremendously in the past few years.
The main reason for Xuanyuan Jue’s relationship with the husband and wife softening so much over the past three years could be attributed to Ling Jie.
Xuanyuan Yufeng smiled and was just about to accept when, suddenly, a deep, thunderous voice boomed from outside.
“Xuanyuan Yufeng, come on out!!”
*OverTheRanbow: This is a stupid 4th wall break joke because of the proverb 秦晋之好, which refers to an alliance sealed by marriage between Qin and Jin Dynasty in the real world’s chinese history. Obviously Yun Che had never heard of such dynasties because they do not exist in the ATG world, so he’s reacting to it.
Chapter 756 - Condemnation
“This stretch of mountain was conferred on Heavenly Sword Villa by the Blue Wind Royal Family a thousand years ago. Since then, it has been renamed as the Heavenly Sword Mountain Range. The summit of the tallest mountain is known as the Summit of Cloud Piercing Sword, and it is also the highest peak in Blue Wind Nation.”
From a bird’s eye view, Yun Che introduced the area in detail to Feng Xue’er. When he first arrived at Heavenly Sword Villa years ago, he was awed by the Heavenly Sword Mountain Range with its surging sword aura. Coupled with the Heavenly Sword Mountain Range’s reputation, a reverence was naturally born in his heart.
This time however, when he faced Heavenly Sword Villa once again, he felt mildly scornful. This feeling of scorn definitely did not emerge from him being strong and looking down on the weak. It was contempt birthed from his heart for all of Heavenly Sword Villa!
When he first arrived at Heavenly Sword Villa six years ago, it never crossed his mind that Heavenly Sword Villa of Blue Wind, in all its tremendous overshadowing power and magnificence, would land in such a sorry plight when faced with Blue Wind Nation’s difficulty and Frozen Cloud’s crisis.
“Big Brother Yun, I’d like to know, how do you plan to deal with Heavenly Sword Villa with your visit this time?” Feng Xue’er asked gently, her words imbued with worry, “Are you going to just to teach them a small lesson, or go… go…”
He had previously damaged Phoenix City into a complete mess. As for Heavenly Sword Villa… to the current Yun Che, even if he wished to demolish them, it was not going to cost him much effort.
Yun Che was slightly startled by Feng Xue’er’s question. He lifted his gaze and his vision was filled with the surrounding range of mountains around the villa. He said regretfully: “Perhaps I’m here solely to vent my anger. Although Heavenly Sword Villa was morally despicable because of their betrayal, they were able to preserve their Heavenly Sword Villa’s thousand year foundation. Besides, selfishness is human nature. Thinking from this angle, I have constantly attempted to absolve Heavenly Sword Villa during this period, but in the end… I still cannot forgive Heavenly Sword Villa. Since they chose to betray the trust placed in them, they naturally have to bear the consequences of that betrayal. Back then, both the Blue Wind Imperial Family and Heavenly Sword Villa pledged to survive or perish together. With this catastrophe that Blue Wind has suffered through, Heavenly Sword Villa has no right to escape unscathed after their betrayal!!”
“And… even if I were magnanimous enough to forgive Heavenly Sword Villa, Little Fairy’s matter… simply cannot be overlooked!”
Recalling the incident involving Chu Yuechan, Yun Che’s peaceful mindset abruptly emanated an aura of viciousness… with this nascent aura, he became irascible and uncontrollable. Ever since Zi Ji disseminated the “free” information of the mastermind behind Chu Yuechan’s incident, the formerly fading memory of the name “Xuanyuan Yufeng” was brutally nailed into his heart and soul with bitter vengeance.
“Big Brother Yun…” Feng Xue’er instantly sensed the change in Yun Che’s emotions. She turned her face and looked at him with bright and clear eyes. Whenever the name “Little Fairy” was mentioned, his breathing and aura became agitated. Now at Heavenly Sword Villa, the aura he suddenly emanated was frighteningly maniacal, his gaze turned terrifying.
During the past three months of constant day and night companionship, Feng Xue’er’s initial surprise and anxiety gradually changed to understanding… Towards Chu Yuechan, Yun Che held deep affections, worry, yearning, guilt… and fear, of not seeing her again. That was why whenever he mentioned her, or thought of her, he would fall into a state of agitation for a long period of time.
Grabbing Feng Xue’er’s hand, Yun Che hastened down towards Heavenly Sword Villa. At the same time, a deep, somber voice with a ruthless aura encompassed Heavenly Sword Villa, and even the entire Heavenly Sword Mountains Range.
“Xuanyuan Yufeng, come on out!!”
Yun Che’s profound strength was robust and powerful; a frisson of shock ran through the dignified sword aura surrounding Heavenly Sword Villa purely from his roar. The several thousand swords dancing in the Sword Management Terrace became chaotic. All at once, the originally tranquil and solemn Heavenly Sword Villa was thrown into turmoil. Almost all disciples, pavilion masters, sword attendants and elders rushed out in rage, as if facing their nemesis.
After all, no one has ever dared to provoke Heavenly Sword Villa since their establishment a thousand years ago.
“Heavenly Sword Villa seems to have two incredible guests today.” Jasmine said suddenly.
“Incredible… guests?” Yun Che frowned.
“Two level six Monarchs, one mid-stage, and one late-stage. Seems like you won’t be getting your way today.” Jasmine said lightly.
“Level six Monarchs?” Yun Che startled slightly but did not express any worry and sneered instead, “Don’t tell me they’re from Mighty Heavenly Sword Region? Heh, it looks like I’ve come at the wrong time. Heavenly Sword Villa is really clinging on to whoever is backing them for dear life.”
Yun Che suddenly recalled a conversation he had with Ling Jie three years ago in Phoenix City, when he met the latter unexpectedly after the Profound Sky Seven Nation Ranking Tournament…
“Back in the day, mother chose father over grandfather, causing grandfather to be furious. A few days back, father and mother brought big brother and I to Mighty Heavenly Sword Region to meet grandfather. Mother and grandfather finally resolved their differences. Eh… grandfather even seemed to like me a lot, and even said that he would personally teach me the complete Heaven’s Might Absolute Sword, hehe…”
“…” Yun Che’s expression subtly turned complicated.
Yun Che did not conceal himself, but blatantly showed up above Heavenly Sword Villa, coldly staring down.
There were many shadows scurrying around in Heavenly Sword Villa. Directly below Yun Che, a silhouette accompanied by a cold, dense sword aura shot upwards and appeared in front of him in a split second… It was Ling Yuefeng. At the same time, a number of Heavenly Sword pavilion masters and elders, wielding profound strength in the Earth Profound Realm and above followed hot on his heels, quickly falling into their battle formation and surrounding Yun Che and Feng Xue’er.
“Yun Che, it’s really you.” Ling Yuefeng’s expression became especially complex when he saw Yun Che, and he said with a mild smile, “You came later than I expected.”
Indeed, he had predicted that this day would come.
At first, in order to protect the thousand years of foundation of Heavenly Sword Villa from the chaos brought by Divine Phoenix, they chose to violate the promise made by their ancestors, committing a betrayal of trust that breached morality. The villa was sealed, and the pleas for assistance sent by the Blue Wind Imperial Family and Frozen Cloud Asgard were ignored. At that time, it had never occurred to them that the Blue Wind Imperial Family would survive, much less this complete reversal of what was supposed to be an expected outcome.
And the reason for this variance, was Yun Che’s return.
Yun Che was infamous for seeking revenge for any grievances suffered. The tragic extermination of the Burning Heaven Clan that year was an event nobody dared to let slip from their memory. After Yun Che survived, the first thing he did upon his return was to serve a revenge many times more devastating than the extermination of the Burning Heaven Clan… towards the Divine Phoenix Sect which had the Profound Sky Seven Nations under their thumb. He made them suffer a crushing defeat, and threw them into a state of chaos and unrest. Eventually, they were forced to withdraw and even offered an apology and an enormous compensation to Blue Wind Nation… Moreover, it was rumored that these were the consequences after Empress Cang Yue pardoned them. Otherwise, the Divine Phoenix Sect might have had to pay a more tragic price.
With Yun Che’s character, it would have been impossible for him to forget Heavenly Sword Villa’s “sin of apathy” after the war. After all, Heavenly Sword Villa was different from the other profound cultivating forces… At the same time, there were rumors that he saved Frozen Cloud Asgard from an imminent demise. He assumed the new appointment as the Asgard Master, as both the former Asgard Mistress Gong Yuxian and the Grand Asgard Mistress Feng Qianhui had perished…
At Yun Che’s hands, the Divine Phoenix Sect was left devastated beyond hope; Heavenly Sword Villa would not even stand a chance.
The current Yun Che was worlds apart from himself of three years ago.
Ling Yuefeng’s gaze roamed towards Yun Che’s side, and he startled slightly. The young girl next to Yun Che wore a snowy white robe, her waist wrapped with thin jade silk, signifying an outfit of the Frozen Cloud Asgard. Her face was obscured by a muslin, and one could only vaguely see a pair of beautiful eyes.
Although her face could not be seen, her entire body exuded an ethereal and fairy-esque aura. Merely looking at her would cause one to feel ashamed and inferior, and would have qualms about being disrespectful…
This feeling, it was exactly the same back when he first met Chu Yuechan… That particular scene, that moment his heart palpitated wildly, he would never forget it even on his deathbed.
“Ah…” Yue Che let out an ear-piercing sneer, which snapped him out of his fleeting absent-mindedness, “Isn’t this the awe-inspiring Villa Master Ling Yuefeng of the supposed number one sect in Blue Wind Nation, the illustrious Heavenly Sword Villa? To have impulsively dropped by for a visit without prior notice and troubled renowned Villa Master Ling to personally greet me, this junior is intimidated beyond his wits.”
As long as one was not deaf, one would be able to hear the ice in Yun Che’s tone and his derisive sarcasm. The closest Heavenly Sword Elder exclaimed furiously, “Yun Che, don’t forget your status! In our Heavenly Sword Villa, you have no place to behave audaciously!!”
“Step down!” Ling Yuefeng’s chest heaved, as he uttered heavily.
“Villa Master…” the surrounding Heavenly Sword elders and pavilion masters who stood by gravely were shocked and stared at Ling Yuefeng, bewildered and nonplussed.
“Step down, all of you!” Ling Yuefeng’s tone hardened, “Without my order, no one is allowed to come any closer!”
Under Ling Yuefeng’s strict order, all Heavenly Sword elders and pavilion masters retreated gradually while staring at Yun Che with unrestrained alarm, until everyone was a distance away. They were well aware that if Yun Che decided to strike, with his caliber of strength that left the Divine Phoenix Sect in chaos, even if their strength were to be multiplied by ten, it would be moot.
Once everyone had retreated, Ling Yuefeng faced Yun Che and inhaled deeply. The last time he met Yun Che was five or six years ago, and at that time, Yun Che was merely a junior who caught his attention slightly. Today, although the current Yun Che in front of him has not changed much in terms of appearance, with the exception of growing slightly taller. However, when facing him, there was a distinct pressure not unlike facing a mountain.
He held exceptionally complicated feelings towards Yun Che… It could perhaps be understood as a deep envy and jealousy, stemming from his unrequited love for his beloved Chu Yuechan who did not even once spare him a glance, yet towards this twenty something year old boy…
At the same time, there was a feeling of unavoidable resentment, although he was clear that he was not in any position to do so.
“Yun Che.” Ling Yuefeng said with a calm tone, “I have not left the villa these past two months, since I was awaiting your visit, or even someone from the Blue Wind Imperial Household. We sealed the villa for the past few years as we were powerless to help, but we still feel ashamed. I have nothing further to say since you are here to condemn us.”
Yun Che raised his eyebrow and was just about to speak, when an elderly, dignified voice spoke from a distance, “The decision to seal the villa was made by me. The decision to withhold assistance to Frozen Cloud Asgard was also made by me.”
As soon as the voice was heard, an elder dressed in an ash-colored gown arrived beside Ling Yuefeng. He glanced at Yun Che and slowly closed his eyes, “Since you are here today… then I will naturally provide an explanation.”
“Father, these are clearly the decisions I made… you didn’t have anything to do with them!” Ling Tianni’s appearance and his words caused Ling Yuefeng to momentarily lose his train of thought, and he hurriedly added, “Yun Che, my father said all that to shield me. As the current villa master of Heavenly Sword Villa, all of the decisions were made by me and have nothing to do with my father. If you have any grievances, you should just direct them at me!”
“Haha, how wonderful that father and son are mutually protecting each other, simply touching enough to move the world!” Yun Che sneered and directed his piercingly sharp glare at Ling Tianni, “Ling Tianni, you and I have no relations, yet you traveled thousands of miles to the Blue Wind Imperial City to have me killed under the pretext of ridding evil back then, under the guise of justice and under the pretense of purging danger from Blue Wind! Although I was badly injured and almost died by your hands, I still maintained a modicum of respect towards you in my heart because I believed your intention towards me arose from the misunderstanding that I was a malevolent and bloodthirsty person. I thought you were an upright and principled person who loathed evil, a trustworthy and honest man!”
“Yet when the country was facing a real crisis, even if no vow was made with the Blue Wind Profound Palace’s ancestor, Heavenly Sword Villa should have stepped up as the core strength. In the end, under the leadership of Ling Tianni, Heavenly Sword Villa has become Blue Wind Nation’s biggest cowards!” Yun Che criticized unreservedly, “When Blue Wind Nation was enveloped in the flames of war and rivers of blood were shed, Heavenly Sword Villa has suffered not even a single loss in the past three years. It moved not a single muscle, and not even a shadow was seen. Recalling how you used to proudly proclaim those ostentatiously dignified words makes me nauseous!”
“…Yun Che!” Ling Yuefeng’s face darkened slightly, “Heavenly Sword Villa has acknowledged this matter and is accordingly ashamed! But this decision was made considering our circumstantial difficulties. If you want to exact revenge, I, Ling Yuefeng will be accountable… desist humiliating my father!”
“That’s enough, Yuefeng. What he said was right, there is no need to absolve me.” Ling Tianni raised his hand and said weakly. With the passing of just a few years, his appearance had aged rapidly. Perhaps for the past few years years, he had been carrying a heavy guilt in his heart. “Yun Che, I’ve said that I will naturally give you and the Blue Wind Imperial Family an explanation regarding this matter.”
“An explanation?” Yun Che turned and said coldly, “Hah, I have not said I needed any explanation from you!”
“Originally, I did intend to level Heavenly Sword Villa.” Yun Che’s frosty tone and words had anyone listening shudder in fear, “Don’t assume that I’m unable to deliver just because you have the backing of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region! Three months ago, even the Divine Phoenix Sect’s Phoenix City was almost completely razed to the ground by my hand. For me to destroy just Heavenly Sword Villa without even blinking is as easy as pie!”
Ling Tianni’s and Ling Yuefeng’s breathing simultaneously became rougher and heavier. If those words were uttered by anyone else, it could have been brushed off as a joke, but because it came from Yun Che, it sent a chill down their spines and they could barely crack a smile.
“However, before I left the Blue Wind Imperial City today, my empress wife stopped me and said this: Heavenly Sword Villa may have disregarded the ancestor’s vow, but the Blue Wind Imperial Family will not do likewise! The founders of Blue Wind and Heavenly Sword pledged to support each other as pillars of power and strength in Blue Wind, to survive and perish together as brothers, and all descendants were mandated to maintain close ties with Heavenly Sword Villa! Today, even if Heavenly Sword Villa is indifferent and callous, as descendants of the Blue Wind Ancestor, we will not disobey the ancestor’s instructions and destroy the legacy of the Heavenly Sword Ancestor.”
“For three years, she was saddled with the pain from the passing of her father and her husband. She shouldered the burden of Blue Wind Nation’s crisis and protected the final dignity of Blue Wind Nation and the royal family. However, she abandoned her own dignity and sought help from you nine times! But what did she gain from this…?” Yun Che inhaled violently, his voice becoming more frigid and bitter, “Therefore, she should be the one who carries the most hatred for you in this world, and is the most qualified person to seek vengeance. But it is also her, her who had wanted me to forgive you. At the very least, to not eliminate Heavenly Sword Villa… but pretend Heavenly Sword Villa did not exist!”
With those words from Yun Che, Ling Tianni and Ling Yuefeng’s gazes wavered… As they recalled Empress Cang Yue’s nine letters of plea written with her blood and tears, a sourness welled up in their hearts, and their expressions turned markedly contrite.
Chapter 757 - Xuanyuan Yufeng!
“Which is why, you can go ahead and set your hearts at ease. Since my empress wife has made a request, I have no interest in finding trouble with Heavenly Sword Villa. I’m not about to let her stoop to your level. She would feel ashamed when meeting her ancestor in the other world!!”
Ling Tianni and Ling Yuefeng’s faces stiffened; they had prepared themselves to pay a hefty price should they face condemnation from Yun Che and the Blue Wind Imperial Family. But this, this was “forgiveness.” This kind of forgiveness astounded them, making them feel ashamed and embarrassed…
Ling Tianni closed his eyes, flashes of emotional pain crossed his face. Although, facing the Divine Phoenix Nation whose power was second to none, it was wisest to seal their villa doors. Even if they made a move, they could not promise to save the Blue Wind Imperial Family, they would only accelerate their villa’s demise. But no matter what reasons or excuses of hardship they were facing, it was a fact that they turned a blind eye and went back on their word.
“Empress Cang Yue is matchless in her farsightedness, her heart as wide as a valley, her current fame and prestige far surpass the late emperor. Her future accomplishments will be limitless. For Blue Wind to be led by such an empress is a once a century fortune. I, Ling Tianni, have lived my life with a clear conscience… but because of thoughts of comfort, I ended up letting down the Blue Wind Imperial Family, Frozen Cloud Asgard and even my own Heavenly Sword Ancestor.” Ling Tianni’s voice was full of regret and carried hints of pain, “Although I no longer have the face to see Empress Cang Yue, my wrongdoings have been cast in stone, and I cannot keep making mistakes. Tomorrow, I will personally make a trip to Blue Wind Imperial City and apologize before Empress Cang Yue…”
“Forget it!” Yun Che raised a hand, unforgivingly interrupting Ling Tianni’s speech, “My empress wife is working very hard right now and doesn’t have the time to entertain you. She also doesn’t want to see you nor anyone from Heavenly Sword Villa! Ling Tianni, you can also quit your hypocritical act. The reason why you are saying all these is because the Blue Wind Imperial Family has been defended, and if the Blue Wind Imperial Family wishes for it, as long as my empress wife calls for it, I could stomp your Heavenly Sword Villa flat anytime I want! If the Blue Wind Imperial Family perished and I was already dead… would your face be like that right now?!”
Ling Tianni’s lips trembled and was left speechless.
“A person who would be indifferent when his own nation was being exterminated, someone who was still hard-hearted after my empress wife begged with her tears and blood, has already ceased to possess any honor or shame. Your so-called shame and apology have no meaning in my eyes, they are not even comparable to a joke!” Yun Che’s eyes were ice-cold, his voice chilled them to the bone. He said without any mercy, “If during these three years, even if you did not bother about the extermination of Blue Wind Nation, and only used your power to help the Blue Wind Imperial Family, even if you merely sent people to protect the safety of my royal father and empress wife, then today, the Blue Wind Imperial Family would be grateful to you. I would be grateful towards you too! What you lost in that time, I would have repaid you tenfold! I, Yun Che, have always repaid my favors and graces!”
“However you chose to be ruthless and shameless. You cannot blame anyone else for the result of today’s outcome! You should be glad for my empress wife’s compassion, otherwise, after today, Heavenly Sword Villa would no longer exist… even Mighty Heavenly Sword Region would not be able to protect you!!”
Whether it was Ling Tianni or Ling Yuefeng, both were legends within Blue Wind Nation. When were they ever insulted and abused before? However, facing Yun Che’s ear-piercing words, they tilted their heads, with their eyes closed, and didn’t retort… they did not have the qualifications to retort.
After all, even though they chose to selfishly ignore Blue Wind Nation’s crisis, they were not actually vile people who did not know the meaning of shame. On the contrary, no matter if it was the human way or the way of the sword, they had some accomplishments on the righteous path. The past three years was probably the biggest shame and wrong doing of their entire lives.
Ling Tianni and Ling Yuefeng did not retort, however, an incomparably piercing female voice came from below, “Yun Che, you really have quite the manner of speaking. You not only dishonor my Heavenly Sword Villa, you even dare to disregard Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, who gave you such guts!?”
Xuanyuan Yufeng soared into the air, landing to the right of Ling Yuefeng. Her decently beautiful face showed a completely opposite expression from Ling Yuefeng. She looked at Yun Che with a face full of anger, hostility and ridicule.
“Xuanyuan Yufeng!” Yun Che slowly squinted his eyes. The woman in front of him was the real reason he was came to Heavenly Sword Villa today.
“Yufeng, this does not concern you, quickly go back.” Ling Yuefeng said lightly. He deeply understood Xuanyuan Yufeng’s temper, and knew Yun Che was not one to swallow it.
“Does not concern me?” Xuanyuan Yufeng laughed coldly, “He already clearly said that he wasn’t here on the behalf of the Blue Wind Imperial Family. As to the real reason why he is here today… ah, the words he yelled when he arrived, were my, Xuanyuan Yufeng’s, name! How could this not concern me!”
Ling Yuefeng shook when he heard it, then suddenly recalled, the words that Yun Che yelled when he reached Heavenly Sword Villa were clearly…
“Xuanyuan Yufeng, come on out!!”
He was already prepared for Yun Che’s arrival, he was sure that Yun Che would be here on the behalf of the Blue Wind Imperial Family… He subconsciously did not notice that the person he yelled for was actually “Xuanyuan Yufeng,” and only “Xuanyuan Yufeng.”
“Xuanyuan Yufeng!” After Xuanyuan Yufeng appeared, Yun Che’s gaze fixed deadly onto her. The look in his eye and the aura on his body had also become bone-piercingly cold. The atmosphere had even become so tense that killing intent could appear any moment, “Between us… we have a huge debt to account for!!”
Facing Ling Yuefeng and Ling Tianni, Yun Che’s voice was full of contempt and disdain. However, when he spoke to Xuanyuan Yufeng, his words were laced with killing intent.
The abrupt change in atmosphere suddenly made Ling Yuefeng aware that the situation was very abnormal… not just simply abnormal! Resentment, coldness and killing intent, all these he could perceive clearly. He hurriedly stepped forward, “Yun Che, there must have been some sort of misunderstanding! Ever since my wife married into Heavenly Sword Villa, she practically never leaves the villa, and does not interfere with matters that do not pertain to the villa. My wife only met you six years ago, and you did not even converse. How could there be any animosity?
“Moreover, all the decisions made in the past few years were solely made by me, the villa master, they had nothing to do with my wife at all… There must have been a misunderstanding!”
Ling Yuefeng was not merely protecting her. He was the clearest on what Xuanyuan Yufeng had done these past years. After marrying into the villa, she practically never stepped out of the villa. For the past few years, the few times that she did leave, were only to return to Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, and those few times, he had followed along… He absolutely could not think of how Xuanyuan Yufeng could have provoked Yun Che, and from the looks of it, there was an enormous amount of hatred.
“Misunderstanding?” Both of Yun Che’s hands tightened, his joints turning white, “Xuanyuan Yufeng! Whether it is a misunderstanding, your heart knows it the clearest! Today, I do not need any explanation from Heavenly Sword Villa, but you…”
Before finishing his words, Yun Che could not restrain his anger, his silhouette rushed out explosively, his gaze like a cold star, his hands grabbing onto Xuanyuan Yufeng’s neck like an eagle’s talons.
“Stop!” Ling Yuefeng and Ling Tianni yelled in alarm at the same time, they were still wondering what kind of hatred did Yun Che have towards Xuanyuan Yufeng, but they never imagined that he would actually make a move, and so viciously.
Ling Yuefeng and Ling Tianni went in both directions, intending to stop Yun Che. However, though their strength was like an insurmountable mountain to Yun Che six years ago, today, their roles had completely reversed. They had only taken half a step, without even having the time to raise their arms, and they were struck by the waves of air brought by Yun Che’s body… they did not even have a shred of power to resist.
At this point, an ear-piercing slashing sound rang out. A streak of sword energy tyrannical to the point that it warped space as it flew from below. One moment it was three hundred meters away, in the next moment, as if striding across space, it suddenly swept towards Yun Che.
Clang!!
Yun Che turned his body, blasting all the profound energy he had already prepared at his front. The space in front of him distorted, the path which the sword energy was taking bent by a huge degree, flying straight behind Yun Che. At the same time, Yun Che was forced to retreat back beside Feng Xue’er, looking coldly at the two silhouettes which just appeared. “Looks like the two of you are finally willing to appear, I almost thought that Mighty Heavenly Sword Region was full of cowards.”
Yun Che held a deep sense of resentment towards Mighty Heavenly Sword Region so he did not hold back when speaking.
“Hohohoho…”
Amidst the gentle laugh, two similarly aged elders floated in the air, each to the left and right sides of Xuanyuan Yufeng. One was wearing a green robe and the other a gray robe, on their backs were respectively green and gray longswords. Their gazes were as sharp and cold as the edge of a blade, the profound energy they possessed was naturally as deep and boundless as the vast ocean.
They were not the least bit angry upon hearing Yun Che’s derogatory words about Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. The elder in green gazed at Yun Che for a moment, then slightly nodded his head and said with a slight smile, “Although this old one has been at the Sword Region for a long time, in recent times, the name Yun Che has a well-known reputation. I thought I would be able to view your talent in two months at the Devil Sword Conference. Who knew that we would have a chance encounter here? This could be counted as a fortunate event.”
“Elders.” The aura on both Ling Tianni’s and Ling Yuefeng’s bodies were in a huge mess from Yun Che’s previous attack. Seeing the elders in green and gray appear, they hurriedly clasped their hands before their chests and saluted. That was because to them at Heavenly Sword Villa, these two were high ranking people they could not afford to neglect.
However, Yun Che was entirely different from them. Even though he clearly knew they were from Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, much less the fact that they had the status of Elders, his face was as dark as before, “Fortunate event? Since it is a fortunate event, what does the attack from before mean? Since you have heard of my great name, then, have you ever heard of this? I am a person who… holds an extremely deep grudge!”
Chapter 758 - Xuanyuan Jiuding
When Yun Che shouted out the four words “Mighty Heavenly Sword Region”, it surprised Xuanyuan Yufeng, Ling Yuefeng and the rest. What shocked them even more was that the expression and tone Yun Che used when he shouted “Mighty Heavenly Sword Region”, were actually overbearing and carried an evident disrespect. The phrase “full of cowards” even brought along a certain degree of shame.
Mighty Heavenly Sword Region was a force of the highest level in Profound Sky Continent. In the eyes of Heavenly Sword Villa, they were even more so like a divine city floating in the clouds, an extraordinary existence which they desperately wanted to depend on, and definitely did not dare to disrespect or offend in the slightest. Furthermore, they had never seen or even heard of there being someone who would dare be this overbearing when facing people from Mighty Heavenly Sword Region.
These two elderly men were even Elder-class figures who carried extremely high standings in Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. They possessed incredible profound strength that could be said to pierce the skies!
“Yun Che, you sure have huge guts!!” Xuanyuan Yufeng’s face was filled with anger. With two Mighty Heavenly Sword Region Elders by her side, how could she possibly possess the slightest bit of hesitation in front of Yun Che? She furiously said, “Even though you know that the two esteemed guests of our villa hail from Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, you still actually dare to be this disrespectful with your words! Do you think that after lording all over Divine Phoenix Nation, you have the qualifications to behave this arrogantly in front of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region!?”
“Milady!” Ling Yuefeng immediately uttered, wanting to stop Xuanyuan Yufeng from continuing. Enraging two Elder-class figures of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region who possessed monstrous profound strength… It was definitely impossible for Yun Che to leave this place alive.
With his knowledge, even if Yun Che’s profound strength has grown by a heaven-bending degree in these few years he was “dead,” and was now sufficient to deter the Divine Phoenix Sect, how could he possibly contend against Mighty Heavenly Sword Region as well…? The latter was after all a supreme sacred ground which had looked down on Profound Sky Continent for ten thousand years!
Xuanyuan Yufeng, however, directly ignored Ling Yuefeng’s discouragement, and said while facing the green and gray elderly men. “Uncles, I can put aside this little junior bullying my Heavenly Sword Villa, yet now he actually dares to not place even Mighty Heavenly Sword Region in his eyes. In my whole life, Yufeng has never seen someone who dares to be this audacious towards Mighty Heavenly Sword Region… This is something that cannot be tolerated! Uncles, please take him down!”
“Elders!” Ling Yuefeng’s heart skipped a beat, as he hurriedly stepped forward and anxiously said, “Yun Che is young and hot-blooded, not to mention he is here to settle debts, so he was unable to control the weight in his words. I hope that Elders do not lower your esteemed selves to his level… Yun Che, my Heavenly Sword Villa will give the Blue Wind Imperial Family an explanation. These two great figures are after all still the Elders of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. They are the most distinguished guests in the history of my Heavenly Sword Villa, so I am unable to accommodate you. Please leave with haste.”
Yun Che did not move, but his eyes lightly glanced at Ling Yuefeng for a moment… Although he was selfish and ungrateful, he could still be considered as an upright person. At the very least, he deserved Cang Yue’s forgiveness!
“Husband, he has already come to bully and shame our villa, why do you still intend to protect him? And today, he actually dared to treat my Heavenly Sword Villa this way. If we let him leave like this, it will only grow even more severe in the future!” Xuanyuan Yufeng said loudly, “Fine! His life can be spared. Let’s have two fellow uncles cripple his entire profound strength. Let’s see if he can still act this arrogantly in the future.”
“Haah.” The green robed elder had instead raised his right arm, and shook his hand. His face still carried that chuckling expression, and did not have the slightest sign of being enraged by Yun Che’s words. “Yufeng, no need to be furious. We have long heard of Yun Che’s temper as well, no matter. Furthermore, Yun Che is one of the people whom the Venerable Sword Master wishes to see at the Devil Sword Conference the most. If things really go as you say, wouldn’t we have to be blamed by the Venerable Sword Master?”
Yun Che, “…?”
“The Venerable Sword Master… wishes to see him?” Xuanyuan Yufeng frowned, puzzled. Both Ling Yuefeng and Ling Tianni were similarly dumbfounded as well. Sword Master Xuanyuan Wentian… the master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. They had gone several times to Mighty Heavenly Sword Region in these recent years, yet never have they dared wish that they could meet him. However, he actually wanted to meet Yun Che himself!?
“Hoho. Not a single word spoken by your Thirteenth Uncle contains falsehood.” The gray robed elder spoke up. With a calm expression, he faced Yun Che. However, in the depths of his eyes, were a deep heaviness and fear which he was suppressing with all his might… Because, after all, he clearly knew that behind Yun Che was a teacher who possessed seemingly incomprehensible strength!
The reason why Yun Che dared to act this overbearing even in front of them, was because of that master named “Duotian.”
He believed that killing Yun Che was a simple feat, but when he recalled that Yun Che’s master had used a mere flicker of starfire to turn a Sun Moon Elder, who possessed strength comparable to his, into nothingness, how could he dare to truly make a move?
“Little friend Yun.” The gray robed elder said with a chuckle.” This old man is surnamed Mu, with the given name Yuanzhi, ranked among the Elders of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. Though Yufeng had married into Heavenly Sword Villa, she was born in our Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, and is still the sole daughter of Xuanyuan Jue, the Ninth Elder of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. I wonder just what kind of grudge little friend Yun has against Yufeng, that you actually have to target her so?”
Ling Yuefeng and Ling Tianni looked towards Yun Che as well… They similarly had no idea just what kind of conflict there was between Yun Che and Yufeng.
“Grudge?” Yun Che laughed solemnly. Ever since he saw Xuanyuan Yufeng, an air of hostility was madly tumbling within his chest. Earlier, when his move towards Xuanyuan Yufeng was obstructed by the two green and gray elders, it had also intensified this hostility. It seemingly wanted to burst apart within his chest. At this moment, he was already at the brink of losing control.
“Since you people want to know it that much, then I shall have her… answer herself!!”
When his last word fell, Yun Che’s body slightly blurred, as he suddenly charged towards Xuanyuan Yufeng who was guarded behind the two Sword Region Elders.
Rather than his speed, what was more terrifying was Yun Che’s explosive acceleration. From being stationary, he turned into a bolt of lightning in a mere instant.
The faces of the green and gray robed elders instantly changed. Though they were shocked, they were not flustered, as they speedily made their moves at the very first moment, grabbing towards Yun Che at the same time… Not only were those instantaneous reactions, the speeds of their movements were not the slightest bit slower than Yun Che’s speed.
After all, they were two powerful and peerless mid-stage Monarchs!
Fwoosh!!
The two Sword Region Elders’ hands caught onto Yun Che’s arm at the same time, but their five gripping fingers did not feel the slightest sense of physical contact. Instead, they caught onto empty air, causing a small spatial ripple from their grips. Along with the stirring of the spatial ripples, Yun Che’s figure disappeared.
What they grabbed hold of, were surprisingly, only afterimages!
“Ah!”
A hoarse scream sounded from behind, and the two people immediately turned around. Within their intensely contracted pupils, Yun Che’s figure resurfaced. He was already standing next to Xuanyuan Yufeng, and the palm of his right hand was unhesitantly locked onto her neck. His five fingers were held firmly tight, causing Xuanyuan Yufeng’s complexion to turn deathly pale in that short instant.
“Milady!”
“Yufeng!”
“You!!”
Ling Tianni and Ling Yuefeng turned pale from shock, as everything happened in an instant. The sound of Yun Che’s words had still yet to completely disperse from their ears. Forget about reacting, they did not even have the faintest clue how Yun Che got behind them. Furthermore, the faces of the two Sword Region Elders had turned as red as pig liver. They had once heard that Yun Che’s personality and actions could not be determined by logic, and he had never played by the rules. However, they never expected that his personality would be arrogant to such an extent. In front of the two of them, two Sword Region Elders, he unhesitantly made his move all of a sudden, without any warning whatsoever…
And when the two of them made their moves at the same time, they were actually unable to stop him… nor had they even touched the corner of his sleeves.
Just what kind of shocking speed and profound movement skill was this…? These thoughts rang in the hearts of the two Sword Region Elders at the same time.
“Yun Che… Let her go immediately!!” The green robed elder’s complexion sank.
“Yun Che, she’s the daughter of our Sword Region’s Ninth Elder, are you planning on becoming enemies with with our Mighty Heavenly Sword Region!?” Gray robed elder Mu Yuanzhi roared out. “Release her this instant! And you will still have the room to negotiate!”
“Like I care whose daughter she is! This is a feud between me and this vile woman, there’s no place for you two undead farts that came out of nowhere to point fingers!” The stance of these two Sword Region Elders was incomparably firm, while his stance was even firmer than theirs. “If you don’t wish to get into trouble, then get out of my sight immediately… The further the better!”
“…” The green robed elder’s chest rose, evidently, he was already brimming with anger. He had lived for nearly a millennium, but had never encountered such a situation. His gaze turned cold, and his voice grew even more solemn as well. “This old man is surnamed Xuanyuan, with the given name Jiuding, and is ranked thirteenth among the Sword Region Elders! Yufeng is this old man’s niece! This old man was been sufficiently courteous to you earlier. It would be wise to not step over my face! You can’t really possibly believe that… Our Mighty Heavenly Sword Region is a place you can offend!?”
Xuanyuan Jiuding… Xuanyuan?
Yun Che had heard from Zi Ji that the surname Xuanyuan was the bloodline of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region’s Sword Master; the most respected and revered bloodline in Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. And from the tone and actions of these two people earlier, it could also be seen that between the two of them, Xuanyuan Jiuding was evidently taking the lead.
His words had slightly stirred Yun Che’s heart… When that Mu Yuanzhi was facing him, he clearly carried very deep fear, evidently afraid of that imaginary teacher “Duotian” of his. However, this Xuanyuan Jiuding in particular did not carry these thoughts at all. Furthermore, the words he spoke seemed to carry a hint of ridicule?
“Yun Che, this old man must remind you!” Mu Yuanzhi spoke up with a solemn voice as well. “Our Mighty Heavenly Sword Region has reigned for ten thousand years, and there has never been a single person who dared to touch someone of the Xuanyuan bloodline! Though Yufeng has broken off from Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, the Xuanyuan bloodline still flows in her body! If you dare to touch her, the very first person who won’t forgive you, will be the Venerable Sword Master of our Mighty Heavenly Sword Region!”
“Oh? Is that so?” Yun Che’s face did not reveal the least bit of fear, and still carried that icy and dangerous smile.
“Uncles, don’t mind me… Just cripple him now!” Xuanyuan Yufeng, whose throat was locked onto by Yun Che, distorted her face, and let out a hoarse, frail voice. “Yun Che, if you have the guts… then kill me! By killing me… You will die with your corpse completely shredded into pieces… Everyone related to you won’t even have to think about continuing living in this world… Ha… Haha…”
“Heh, you’re actually still able to talk. Looks like my actions have really been too gentle, as expected.” Yun Che let out an icy laugh, and his five fingers fiercely tightened.
With a cracking sound, one of Xuanyuan Yufeng’s neck bones resoundingly broke. Her eyes instantly bulged, and her face was as white as paper, yet, she was not able to even let out a single scream.
“Stop… stop! Stop!” Ling Yuefeng roared out with an expression filled with pain. “Yun Che, just why must you act so vilely!? If you have anything that you aren’t happy with… Then lash it out all on me, Ling Yuefeng!”
“It seems, you really are completely unaware of this.” Yun Che coldly said. “This sure shows the bond of husband and wife of more than twenty years!”
“Very well… Yun Che. It seems like you refuse to yield, and want to play with force!!” Xuanyuan Jiuding’s robe rose upwards as his profound energy intensely stirred. Dozens of domineering sword waves began to dance around his body.
“Thirteenth Elder…” Seeing that Xuanyuan Jiuding actually had signs of making a forceful move, Mu Yuanzhi hurriedly stepped forward, wanting to persuade him with a low voice. After all, they could offend Yun Che, but that teacher behind his back was someone they definitely could not offend… Sun Moon Divine Hall had already paid a price of blood, and even now, they did not dare to seek the slightest bit of trouble with Yun Che.
Bang!
With a low explosive burst of air, Xuanyuan Jiuding’s body fiercely pounced forward… However, the direction he pounced towards was not where Yun Che was, but behind him!
The direction he leapt, was towards the girl that came along with Yun Che, who had not uttered a single word. Her white robe fluttered, and her aura was similar to that of a fairy.
He did not dare to rashly make a move against Yun Che, because from the rumors of Yun Che’s extreme personality, even if he knew that Xuanyuan Yufeng belonged to the Xuanyuan bloodline, he would still not be hesitant of doing matters such as directly striking her to death.
He did not know this girl’s status or facial features, and from her attire, she could possibly be a certain disciple or Frozen Fairy from Frozen Cloud Asgard. However, since she accompanied him here, her relationship with him must definitely be beyond ordinary as well. By bringing her down, he should be able to force Yun Che into submission!
Chapter 759 - Embarrassing Beyond Belief
Before Yun Che made the move to capture Xuanyuan Yufeng, he had already sound transmitted to Feng Xue’er to be careful. Facing Xuanyuan Jiuding’s sudden attack, Feng Xue’er wasn’t the least bit startled as she slightly raised her snowy hand. With a soft swish of her white sleeve, a scarlet red flame arrow condensed before her, shooting at Xuanyuan Jiuding at a considerably slow speed.
Even a profound practitioner in the Earth Profound Realm would scoff at an inferior scarlet profound flame, so Xuanyuan Jiuding directly ignored it and grabbed at Feng Xue’er’s neck… However, in the next instant his complexion changed, because what came at him was actually a scorching, oppressive power that suffocated him immediately.
Amidst his great shock, Xuanyuan Jiuding didn’t hesitate to push out both hands. His profound strength also rapidly increased by several fold as his profound energy surged, causing his two gray colored sleeves to flutter upwards.
Bang!!!
When the two bursts of Monarch level profound energy collided, a tremendous ripple of energy spread outwards, to the surroundings. Even though Ling Yuefeng and Ling Tianni were more than three hundred meters away, they were still fiercely blasted far away by this energy ripple. Only after they were a few kilometers away did they stop, with all the energy and blood in their bodies churning, and nearly spitting out blood.
Feng Xue’er’s flame arrow stilled in front of Xuanyuan Jiuding… but it merely stilled, and wasn’t dispersed by Xuanyuan Jiuding’s power. Not even the slightest hint of weakening could be found. This scene caused Xuanyuan Jiuding’s pupils to shrink; he didn’t dare to believe his eyes at all. He suddenly gritted his teeth as the profound energy in his body surged once more. This time, he didn’t hesitate to push his full strength forward.
With a dull smothering sound, the scarlet flame arrow was immediately knocked a few meters back. Behind her white gauze veil, Feng Xue’er’s bright eyes flashed as her long sleeves swept again, her fine white jade-like hands lightly pushing forward.
The flames on the Phoenix Arrow instantly rose sharply and its power explosively increased by several fold. Though the blaze was not that big, it turned the entire sky a scarlet color.
Xuanyuan Jiuding’s already shrunken pupils contracted even further as he uttered a dull shout. He was unable to believe that the power from earlier was not even the other party’s limit… Furthermore, in the blink of an eye, with merely a casual movement, the power had nearly doubled!
Beneath the Phoenix Arrow’s explosive increase in strength, his body was forced to withdraw several steps. Clenching his teeth, he gathered all of his profound energy into his two arms, causing his arms to double in width. He desperately struck out, but to no avail. Moreover, an increasingly terrifying sensation of burning began to raid his entire body, causing him to feel as if he were walking step by step towards a purgatory of fire which would completely incinerate him.
Whoosh!!
Xuanyuan Jiuding’s two long sleeves began to blaze fiercely, and his expression became increasingly agonized… under the flame’s flickering light, one could see that his hands hadn’t turned a scarlet color, but had instead become a striking coal black.
“Th-Thirteenth Elder!” Mu Yuanzhi screamed in shock. Other than Yun Che, everyone else who saw this all stared blankly ahead in shock as if they had entered a dream. Xuanyuan Jiuding was the thirteenth elder of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, and was one of the most powerful people within entire Profound Sky Continent! In order to force Yun Che to submit, he had despicably attacked a little girl who was a disciple of Frozen Cloud Asgard. Moreover, it had been a surprise attack. Something which should have been easily obtained… had ended up not being obtained. Instead, he had been forced away in one blow by his opponent’s counterattack, which had caused him to fall to a disadvantage in the blink of an eye.
Xuanyuan Jiuding’s profound strength had reached the sixth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm… In the eyes of Ling Yuefeng, Ling Tianni and the rest, his existence was like that of a god.
“Yuanzhi… help me!!” Xuanyuan Jiuding roared, his voice trembling from pain… he could already clearly smell the scent of his own burning flesh exuding off his body.
As if he had suddenly woken up from a dream, the energy atop Mu Yuanzhi’s body exploded as the longsword on his back flew out of its sheathe and landed into his hand. He then stabbed out… his stab was not directed towards Feng Xue’er, but towards the scarlet flames suppressing Xuanyuan Jiuding. In just this short period of time, Xuanyuan Jiuding’s body had already become extremely burned. If Mu Yuanzhi didn’t first help Xuanyuan Jiuding get rid of the flames, it was possible that Xuanyuan Jiuding’s hands would become wasted.
Earlier, all of their focus had been on Yun Che. Although Yun Che’s profound energy aura was surprisingly low, they didn’t dare be careless. After all, each new rumor about Yun Che was even more shocking than the previous one.
However, not even in their dreams had they thought that the little girl who came with him would actually be so terrifying! She was clearly even more terrifying than Yun Che!!
As Yun Che watched Mu Yuanzhi rush towards Feng Xue’er, his face didn’t show even the slightest bit of worry. Although these two Sword Region Elders were quite strong, it was all too easy for Feng Xue’er to defeat them at her level of profound strength. Instead, he took advantage of the time while everyone was distracted. A blue light flashed atop his left arm as his Profound Handle instantly pierced into Xuanyuan Yufeng’s mind.
The blade of Mu Yuanzhi’s sword was pitch-black. As he stabbed out with it, wave-like fluctuations began to emanate from around his body.
Clang!!
The tip of the sword stabbed into the tip of the Phoenix Arrow. At that moment, the exploding sword intent agitated the nearby space, causing it to screech as it was torn apart. Immediately, the aura of the scarlet flames was significantly reduced, finally reliving some of the pressure on Xuanyuan Jiuding. Ignoring the pain of his entire body, he fiercely raised his energy as the sword on his back flew into his hand… similar to Mu Yuanzhi’s sword, his was also pitch-black and plain. However, it surged with a kind of extraordinary power and prestige.
“Heaven’s Might Sword Formation… Star Piercer!”
Riip!!
Space was torn apart like cloth as a several meter long tear appeared. Just the surging sword intent and immense force from this one sword caused the distantly observing Ling Tianni and Ling Yuefeng to feel as if they were witnessing the domain of a sword god.
The two swords of the Sword Region Elders slashed down, forcefully diverting the Phoenix Arrow. Even the powerful flames were were slightly weakened. Xuanyuan Jiuding and Mu Yuanzhi simultaneously gritted their teeth as they fully released their profound energy and sword intent. They no longer dared to be even the slightest bit neglectful. Although they had finally acquired the upper hand, they didn’t feel even the slightest bit of relief in their minds… they were two dignified Sword Region Elders, yet they actually had to work together to deal with a little girl…
To them, this was something that they had never conceived of and was a humiliation they could not accept.
However, at this moment, even they had both released their full powers, it didn’t mean that Feng Xue’er had as well.
As Feng Xue’er raised her arm for the third time, her snow white sleeves gently fluttering, the golden phoenix mark between her brows faintly flashed… amidst the silence, the sound of a phoenix resonated out. However, no one knew where it came from.
The flames atop the Phoenix Arrow exploded once more as it transformed from an arrow to a phoenix in the blink of an eye. The scarlet radiance and scorching heat which seemingly came from the bottom of purgatory, easily pierced through the sword formation of the two Sword Region Elders and ruthlessly enveloped their bodies.
“Aghhhh!”
Xuanyuan Jiuding and Mu Yuanzhi’s expressions changed yet again as agonized moans simultaneously emerged from both of their mouths. Clenching their teeth to the point of almost shattering them, the two growled low as what could be considered as the highest level of sword intent and force on the Profound Sky Continent wildly surged out, trying to smash the flames to pieces. However, even after putting their lives on the line and exhausting all of their energy, they were still unable to disperse the scarlet flames. Instead, their swords were quickly devoured. Even the sword formation they had pierced out was suppressed and rapidly collapsed.
The two originally pitch-black longswords began to quickly turn red as if they were pieces of ordinary iron. However, for these swords to be the partners of Sword Region Elders, how could they possibly be ordinary swords? For the two swords to burn and turn red, the temperature must have reached an unthinkable point.
Strands of black smoke began to emerge from Xuanyuan Jiuding and Mu Yuanzhi’s palms as clusters of fire planted themselves onto their bodies and hair. The two desperately tried to suppress them, but quickly, more and more of them sprang up… at this time, the two felt as if they had been placed over the fires of purgatory and left to burn. The pain was so great that they wished they were dead, but they were unable to retreat… because the flames in front of them were just too terrifying. As soon as they even slightly eased up and took half a step back, the flames in front of their eyes would immediately surge forward and completely devour them.
“Miss… mercy… please…” Xuanyuan Jiuding’s beard had already began to burn, and his entire body now looked like a heated piece of iron which had turned red. Having been forced into this position, he no longer cared about his dignity as a Sword Region Elder and issued a painful plea to Feng Xue’er.
Feng Xue’er didn’t retract the flames, but instead looked towards Yun Che, only to discover Yun Che’s ashen face and terrifyingly overcast eyes.
Tragic cries began to echo over from afar. Several corners of Heavenly Sword Villa had began to blaze as a large number of Heavenly Sword disciples began to roll on the ground in agony… although the phoenix flame summoned by Feng Xue’er was several hundred meters in the air, she was still a Monarch… even though it was only residual power, as phoenix flame created by a Monarch level practitioner, just how could Heavenly Sword Villa withstand it?
The strange state of Heavenly Sword Villa caused Feng Xue’er’s red lips to part as her heart fell into chaos. She quickly lifted her jade arm, causing her long sleeve to sway. Immediately, the direction of the Phoenix Arrow changed as it began to fly towards the west of the Heavenly Sword Mountain Range accompanied by trails of smoke and phoenix cries.
Boom!!!
The Phoenix Arrow descended atop the peak of a tall mountain at the edge of the range. Amidst the dull sound of an explosion, the entire mountain peak suddenly combusted. The blaze quickly descended the mountain at a terrifyingly rapid pace, then disappeared… as it turned the mountain into patch after patch of roiling lava.
The extremely high temperature enveloping Heavenly Sword Villa quickly disappeared. As the elders and disciples of Heavenly Sword Villa stared blankly at the flames in the west, which seemed as if they were going to breach the heavens, their souls violently quivered.
Towards the people of Heavenly Sword Villa, Feng Xue’er’s level was just too fantastical.
Xuanyuan Jiuding and Mu Yuanzhi were finally able to escape from their nightmare. The instant the phoenix flames flew away, they backed away while crying like wolves which had been scared out of their wits. Even their swords, which generally never left their bodies, had fallen from their hands and landed on the dirt below them. They crazily took deep breaths as they circulated profound energy to suppress the burns all over their body.
The hands which they gripped their swords with had all been scorched black. This was especially evident on Xuanyuan Jiuding’s right hand, where his palm had been directly incinerated, exposing mostly charred bones. The robe covering his body had long since entered a disastrous state, and his hair and beard had all been burnt to a crisp. He looked unbelievably miserable.
The two of them had never been this tragic in their lives.
“Phoenix flames! You… Who exactly are you!?” While holding in the intense pain inflicted all over his body, Xuanyuan Jiuding shouted with an obvious tremble in his voice. He considered himself rather well learned regarding the Divine Phoenix Sect, and he had even dueled against Feng Tianwei himself before… The grand sect master of the Divine Phoenix Sect was just on par with him.
However, the aura of this girl was just too young… how could she have such terrifying profound energy!? Just when had the Divine Phoenix Sect given birth to such a monstrous person!?
He was just finished when he suddenly recalled a certain rumor about the Divine Phoenix Sect from three months ago. His pupils shrank, and he cried out in shock, “You’re… Princess Snow of the Divine Phoenix Sect!?”
“What?” Mu Yanzhi abruptly turned his head in great shock.
Everyone on the Profound Sky Continent knew about the news when Yun Che devastated the Divine Phoenix Sect three months ago. At the time, the Four Great Sacred Grounds had also heard that the person who ultimately ended the devastation was Princess Snow. Moreover, Princess Snow went into a slumber for three years seemed to have experienced a massive increase in profound strength. She had also accompanied Yun Che back to Blue Wind Nation.
To have been able to force the two of them into joining hands, her cultivation was at least a small realm above theirs!
This was to say, her cultivation had to at least be at the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm!!
Moreover, for one at the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, no matter which Scared Ground they’re in, it was enough to enter the top ten ranks!!
The girl had used phoenix flames, and was beside Yun Che. Furthermore, the burning power of her phoenix flames had been so terrifying… she could only be Princess Snow! However, although they had heard that Princess Snow’s cultivation had greatly improved, they had never imagined that it would have soared to such a level.
Princess Snow should only be nineteen years old this year…
A nineteen year old level eight Monarch!!
Xuanyuan Jiuding and Mu Yanzhi both sucked in a harsh, cold breath at the same time… Even if they were to declare this with their statuses as elders of the Sword Region, almost no one would have believed them.
In the distance, Ling Tianni and Ling Yuefeng, who had been sent flying by the waves of energy, stood where they were like wooden statues… Xuanyuan Jiuding and Mu Yuanzhi, these two figures who were like gods in their eyes, had actually suffered such an embarrassing defeat at the hands of a little girl. Their shock was something which could not be conveyed with words… they had even forgotten that the life and death of Xuanyuan Yufeng was currently in Yun Che’s hands.
Feng Xue’er didn’t reply as her snow white figure slightly shook and her figure moved to Yun Che’s side. She worriedly looked at his gloomy face and said, “Big Brother Yun, what’s wrong? You look so scary.”
“…” Yun Che’s grip on Xuanyuan Yufeng tightened unconsciously. While Xuanyuan Jiuding and Mu Yanzhi were suppressed by Feng Xue’er just now, he had seized the opportunity to invade Xuanyuan Yufeng’s mind and scour a portion of her memories with his profound handle… After all, he had only heard them from Zi Ji and could not be sure that they were completely true. Perhaps he had accused Xuanyuan Yufeng wrongly.
Subconsciously, he even hoped for a bit that he had wronged Xuanyuan Yufeng. After all, she was Ling Jie’s biological mother.
However, the scan results of the profound handle left him absolutely furious.
Chapter 760 - Goodbye, Ling Jie
“Yun Che, let go of my mother!!”
Amidst a loud roar, a young man, fully in white, arrived from far off in the air. With the Celestial Yuan Sword in hand, his whole body was raging with sword intent as he charged at his fastest speed towards Yun Che, who had seized Xuanyuan Yufeng.
“Ling Yun?” Yun Che’s eyes slanted, and he immediately saw the person following closely behind Ling Yun… He looked a little younger than Ling Yun, but his figure was already similar to Ling Yun. The face that was once filled with innocence and brashness was now more stern with determination after maturity.
“Little Jie…” Yun Che said in a low voice, and the expression in his eyes suddenly become extremely complicated. The person that he didn’t want to see most on this trip to Heavenly Sword Villa was Ling Jie.
It had been several years since they had met and Ling Yun’s profound strength had increased rapidly, already reaching the Sky Profound Realm. As for Ling Jie, because he was beloved by Xuanyuan Jue, under the personal tutelage of Xuanyuan Jue, his strength advanced at a tremendous pace. Yun Che was able to tell immediately that not only had Ling Jie entered the Sky Profound Realm, his strength was actually almost the same as Ling Yun. He would be able soon be able to completely surpass Ling Yun.
“Yun’er, Jie’er, don’t go over there!!” Ling Yuefeng reached out and yelled. Previously at the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament, Ling Yun and Yun Che were still opponents at the same plane. But now, even if it were ten thousand Ling Yuns, if he dared to offend Yun Che, he would just be courting death.
Ling Yun pretended like he didn’t hear the warning as a one and a half meter long sword beam swept out from his Celestial Yuan Sword, ruthlessly piercing toward Yun Che. He and Ling Jie were originally practicing the sword in the back mountain. When they heard the news that distinguished guests had arrived from Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, they rushed back to the villa at their fastest speed. There were extremely unusual air waves and sounds on the whole way back, and once they returned to the villa, they saw the scene of Xuanyuan Yufeng being held hostage by Yun Che.
Ling Yun was furious, but Ling Jie’s emotions were a lot more complicated than Ling Yun. Since he found out that Yun Che was still alive, he was wild with joy. It was unknown just how many times he couldn’t help but want to go see Yun Che. He had at last seen him today, but it was actually under a situation like this… it made his whole brain go into chaos. He was following behind Ling Yun, but his speed was slower and slower. He was drowning in shock, confusion, fright, and panic, and didn’t know what to do.
Facing the approaching Ling Yun, Yun Che held out his other hand towards him… This movement made Ling Yuefeng turn pale from fright as he yelled madly, “Yun Che… stop!”
Bang!!
Before Ling Yuefeng could finish, Yun Che had already extended his palm. At that moment, the air waves within the space of three hundred meters were pushed severely as they hit Ling Yun and Ling Jie. It made them lose their balance immediately, causing them to spin a couple circles in the air before they landed on the ground.
Watching Ling Yun and Ling Jie stand up immediately after falling onto the ground without a single injury, without even their auras weakening, Ling Yuefeng’s whole body immediately relaxed as it felt drained. Breaking out in cold sweat, he asked in a trembling voice, “Yun Che, what do you want… what did my wife do wrong!?”
“Big… Big Brother Yun. What… exactly happened? What happened?” Ling Jie’s face was covered in shock and confusion. He also used a completely different title to call Yun Che. He couldn’t even dare to believe that the Yun Che before him was really Yun Che.
Yun Che ignored Ling Jie and also directly ignored the currently recuperating Xuanyuan Jiuding and Mu Yuanzhi. He stared straight at Ling Yuefeng and said darkly, “Back then, Chu Yuechan’s pregnancy was discovered in your Heavenly Sword Villa by someone called Grandmother Jiumu. At that time, other than Chu Yuechan, Grandmother Jiumu, Chu Yueli and you, there was no one else present… Then, in the span of a few days after Chu Yuechan returned to Frozen Cloud Asgard from your Heavenly Sword Villa, how did rumors spread throughout the whole world? Ling Yuefeng, even if you were ten times dumber, you must know the consequences that she would suffer if this matter were to be spread. Did you attempt to lockdown the information!?”
Yun Che’s words caused Ling Yuefeng’s heart to skip a beat as he frantically replied, “Regarding this matter, I obviously knew the severity of it. We naturally do not need to question Fairy Yueli, Grandmother Jiumu has also practiced medicine for a hundred years and definitely wouldn’t spread anything. I have always been wondering how exactly this matter spread as well…”
“Wonder!?” Yun Che’s eyes suddenly turned cold as he glared daggers at Ling Yuefeng’s heart, causing the latter’s voice and breathing to instantly freeze, “Ling Yuefeng, you have always been known as the gentleman of the sword to others, but the current fake appearance you’re trying so hard to put on really doesn’t suit you at all! Were the ones who knew about that matter back then only those four I mentioned!? Did you really not run into a person who just happened to hear about it that day!? Don’t tell me that, in your heart, you really don’t know the one who spread this news and did their best to fan the fire all the way, until everyone in the world knew about it!?”
“…” Ling Yuefen’s lips shook and he remained speechless for a long time. He had known all along that it was done by Xuanyuan Yufeng, because aside from her, there couldn’t have been any other person. However, he had never asked Xuanyuan Yufeng about this, nor did he look into it to confirm his suspicions. He didn’t even mention it at all. The majority of his heart had died upon knowing that Chu Yuechan was pregnant by someone else. When it had come out, even though he was furious at Xuanyuan Yufeng for having done that, he could not worsen their marital relationship further. Instead he had tried his best to mend it… her father was, after all, an Elder of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region.
After the incident, he received news that when Chu Yuechan returned to Frozen Cloud Asgard, she had crippled her profound art and was expelled. Nothing further was heard after that. At that time, Frozen Cloud Asgard had also closed its doors.
With Chu Yuechan’s status in Frozen Cloud Asgard, she definitely wouldn’t have been expelled even if she had violated a rule of the sect. It was clear to him that this only happened because the news spread to the entire world and gave Frozen Cloud Asgard pressure that they hadn’t received in a thousand years.
“Right… I was the one who did it!” Xuanyuan Yufeng cried out when Ling Yuefeng was speechless. A twisted smile was even revealed on her face as she stated, “That slut… made her own scandal! Don’t tell me that you think she is qualified for everyone to seal their lips for her!? As for the consequences of everyone knowing about it, that’s the shameful scandal you and she caused, what does that have to do with me? Hahahaha…”
Yun Che slightly narrowed his eyes as he said in a low, unhurried voice, “She and I love each other very much. The child she had with me was a gift bestowed from the heavens, how is it shameful!? The word slut that came out from your mouth doesn’t make me the least bit angry, it would only make others laugh. In your heart, I’m sure you know very clearly that the word slut can never be placed on Chu Yuechan even in a hundred lifetimes! As for you, even ten thousand lifetimes wouldn’t be enough!
“You…”
Yun Che’s hand tightened, constricting Xuanyuan Yufeng’s voice. Then, he said slowly, “Xuanyuan Yufeng, you should’ve been thankful about me and Chu Yuechan being together. In fact, I don’t even think that being thankful for your entire life would be enough. Because you should know this clearer than anyone; if it wasn’t for the fact that my Chu Yuechan never paid any attention to Ling Yuefeng, forget about being the villa master’s wife, Ling Yuefeng probably wouldn’t even have spared you a glance! In terms of looks, temperament, cultivation, and mentality, the difference between you and Chu Yuechan is like the mud on the ground against a snow lotus on a heavenly mountain! Yet you, just because of your own jealousy, actively schemed to push her toward a dead end… I, Yun Che, rarely kill women, but you, Xuanyuan Yufeng, have succeeded in making me want to tear you into ten thousand pieces!!!”
“Yun Che!!” That freezing killing intent made Ling Yuefeng, who was more than three hundred meters away, feel as though he had fallen into an ice cave. He shouted hurriedly, “About the Fairy of Frozen Beauty, my wife has truly done a huge wrong. However, women are naturally prone to jealousy, and the jealousy she has for the Fairy of Frozen Beauty was caused by me, Ling Yuefeng. Everything done was all because of me, Ling Yuefeng! And it is not just that…” Ling Yuefeng sucked in a deep breath as he slightly gritted his teeth, “Even if my wife is wrong, it is merely because she spread news of a fact under a fit of jealousy. She didn’t maliciously spread false information, so her sins simply aren’t worthy of death… Please have mercy and let go of my wife. I, Ling Yufeng will undertake all the responsibilities of this sin and I won’t complain at all.”
“Ah, a sin not worthy of death?” Yun Che glanced at him from the corner of his eye as his expression became even more dark and cold. “Looks like you really have no idea, huh… Back then, when Chu Yuechan stripped her profound arts and left Frozen Cloud Asgard, before she even had the chance to leave the Snow Region of Extreme Ice, she had encountered the pursuit of three people who had been waiting a long time to kill her. Those three people were all members of your Heavenly Sword Villa. You tell me if that it is not a sin worthy of death!?”
“Wh… what!?” Yun Che’s words made Ling Yuefeng abruptly raise his head as his eyes enlarged. Ling Jie, who was down below, also stiffened from head to toe, not daring to believe what he had heard.
“Im… Impossible! Impossible! My wife never would have done such a thing. No one from my Heavenly Sword Villa would do such a malicious thing; absolutely impossible! Absolutely impossible! This must be a huge misunderstanding…” Ling Yuefeng violently shook his head and roared, but his later actions and voice unwittingly slowed because he suddenly recalled that back then, on the night Frozen Cloud Asgard left the villa, Xuanyuan Yufeng had personally dispatched three Heavenly Sword Elders to send Ling Kun a distance off. At that time, he was puzzled. With Ling Kun’s strength, he simply didn’t need any protection at all, nor would he get lost. However, before Ling Kun, he obviously was unable to refuse or question that action. After that, he didn’t think about it that much either.
Could it be…
“Impossible? A huge misunderstanding? Hahahaha…” Yun Che laughed tauntingly, “Xuanyuan Yufeng, since you have the guts to do it, do you have the guts to admit it!?”
“Why wouldn’t I have the guts to admit!? Xuanyuan Yufeng screeched, her hideously pale face didn’t even have much fear at all. Relying on her status of a Sword Region Elder’s daughter, she was still confident that Yun Che definitely didn’t have the guts to kill her. Not only was she not extremely scared, her voice and appearance were still as arrogant and as haughty as before. “I just hate that those three trash didn’t do their job properly and had instead let the slut escape… Mngh!”
Under Yun Che’s fiercely tightened grip, Xuanyuan Yufeng’s entire throat had completely twisted and her eyes were protruding out. She was no longer able to shout out a single word.
Xuanyuan Yufeng’s confession instantly shattered the illusion which Ling Yuefeng was desperately clinging onto, as the scenery in front of him began to twist and turn. “Yufeng, you… how could you do… such a thing…”
“This isn’t true… This definitely can’t be true…” Ling Jie collapsed weakly onto the ground, as he soullessly muttered to himself.
“Heh, since you have already admitted it… Very well, you can die peacefully now!” The cold sneer and overcast expression on Yun Che’s face disappeared, turning into an indifferent look, completely devoid of feelings. Within the space, a bone-piercing, heart-crippling killing intent stirred.
This killing intent shocked Mu Yuanzhi and Xuanyuan Jiuding greatly. Mu Yuanzhi no longer cared about his injuries, as he stepped forward and roared out. “Yun Che! She is Ninth Elder Xuanyuan Jue’s…”
“Shut up!” Yun Che turned his head, that terrifying gaze of his fiercely shook Mu Yuanzhi’s very core. “I don’t care who she is, and I don’t care who you are… Whoever dares to stop me from killing her today, I will kill every single one of them!! Mu Yuanzhi, Fifteen Elder of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region… Heh, I seem to recall that elder of Sun Moon Divine Hall who died in front of my eyes three months ago was also ranked fifteenth, are you that anxious to have me send you to the palace of hell today to be his companion!?”
A chill crept up Mu Yuanzhi’s entire body, while his figure actually took a step back. Enveloping him were a chilling intent and killing intent which could even send fear to a mid-stage Monarch like him. If the exact same words were spoken by anyone else, he would have just loudly laughed it off, but the person in front of him, was Yun Che… A maniac who had killed two great Monarchs of the Divine Phoenix Empire, and had even almost destroyed Phoenix City single-handedly!
Yun Che might perhaps not be able to kill him with his abilities alone, but it was definitely possible for Princess Snow who was next to him!
Next to him, Xuanyuan Jiuding had reached out his hand to firmly grasp onto his arm. Using his eyes, he signaled him not to anger Yun Che… Feng Xue’er, who was next to Yun Che, possessed the ability to forever have them stay where they are, so in this present situation, even if they had to stand by and idly watch Xuanyuan Yufeng die, it was definitely inappropriate for them to threaten or anger Yun Che.
“No… Don’t.”
Bitterness was carried within his trembling, pleading voice. Below, Ling Jie was already kneeling on the ground, the Celestial Yuan Sword which he treated as part of his own being was already unsheathed. He raised his head upwards to the sky where Yun Che was, his face was filled tears. “Big Brother Yun, my mother definitely isn’t a bad person with a venomous heart, she had merely… acted out of impulse… really… Big Brother Yun, I beg you to show mercy to my mother, allow me to shoulder my mother’s sins. Big Brother Yun, please fulfill my request.”
As his voice fell, the Celestial Yang Sword drew a ray of cold light, as it suddenly pierced towards Ling Jie’s throat.
Ling Yuefeng and Ling Tianni exclaimed loudly, as they madly charged towards Ling Jie. Xuanyuan Yufeng’s pupils had even contracted greatly. The final tint of redness on her face had completely faded out of shock and fear, as it turned completely pale…
Clang!!
A ray of fiery light surged into the skies, instantly blasting his Celestial Yang Sword far away. At the same time, Xuanyuan Yufeng was thrown downwards from the sky by Yun Che, smashing right onto Ling Jie’s body.
“Mo… Mother!”
“Yufeng!!!”
Ling Jie and Ling Yun frantically grabbed onto Xuanyuan Yufeng’s hand and despite their agitation, they still could not believe what they had just seen. Ling Tianni and Ling Yuefeng also rushed over and surrounded the three of them.
“Xuanyuan Yufeng…” Yun Che, who was in the air was already, had his back facing them and his expression could no longer be seen. His voice however remained ice cold and filled with deep hatred, “ From today onwards, you had better desperately pray that both mother and child are safe, otherwise…”
Chapter 761 - Fateful Turning Point
“Xue’er, let’s go.”
Yun Che didn’t continue his sentence. He couldn’t. He did not spare a glance for single person as he pulled Feng Xue’er’s hand and flew off into the distance without turning back.
He had overwhelmed them with killing intent that sent shock and fear rippling down their spines a moment ago, but then abruptly released Xuanyuan Yufeng and departed with his head bowed low. This turn of events was something that left Xuanyuan Jiuding and Mu Yuanzhi dazed for a good while.
“This Yun Che is even harder to deal with than the rumors said.” Yun Che’s departure caused Mu Yuan to feel an astonishingly huge sense of relief overtake him. This was the first time in his life that a youngster made him feel this way. He immediately added a few words to his sentence, “He has a terrifyingly strong master to support him after all, so he does have the backing to be this forceful and cocky.”
“Master? Heh.” Xuanyuan Jiuding gave a faint smile. “Don’t worry. He won’t be able to prance around much longer. There will naturally come a day where he will pay for all that he’s done!”
“Oh?” Mu Yuan looked at Xuanyuan Jiuding with an astonished expression. “Thirteenth Elder, your words…”
“Don’t ask any further. When the time comes, all will be made clear to you,” Xuanyuan Jiuding said, his lips peeling back as a strange smile stretched across his face.
————————————
Once they left the vicinity of the Heavenly Sword Mountain Range, Yun Che’s speed slowed down a bit. His brows knit together tightly as he silently pondered about something.
Feng Xue’er could tell that Yun Che’s current mood was very heavy and she tried to console him in a soft voice, “Big Brother Yun, don’t be too worried. Chu Yuechan and her child are definitely safe and sound. They must be in some safe haven waiting for Big Brother Yun to find them.”
“…” Yun Che exhaled lightly and a faint smile appeared on his face. “You’re right. They’re definitely okay. I have firmly believed that all this time.”
“It’s just that, I only found just out today that Heavenly Sword Villa tried to kill her after she left Frozen Cloud Asgard all those years ago.” Yun Che’s fists were tightly clenched. Since Xuanyuan Yufeng was Ling Jie’s mother, he was unable to bring himself to kill her…. Otherwise, he would not even have taken the fact that she was some daughter of some Sword Region Elder into consideration. Even if she were the Queen Mother of the Heavens, he would still slaughter her in rage.
“I wonder… how she managed to escape then?” Feng Xue’er knew that since Xuanyuan Yufeng had schemed about how to kill Chu Yuechan day and night, the three people that she had sent to do the deed would definitely have the ability to fulfill their end of the bargain… Therefore, the situation that Chu Yuechan faced at that time had to have been quite desperate.
Yun Che replied softly, “The real reason why Xuanyuan Yufeng spread the news of the Little Fairy’s pregnancy to the whole world all those years ago was so that she would have a chance to kill her. She was certain that, upon returning to Frozen Cloud Asgard, there was a high chance that Little Fairy would be expelled from the sect. Just to prepare for this possibility, she hid a force of ambushers within the Snow Region of Extreme Ice far in advance… Little Fairy would not have been the match for the three people that she dispatched even if she were at the peak of her powers. Furthermore, Little Fairy was pregnant, her profound aura was weak and fluctuating, and she had just crippled her own profound arts. The moment she appeared, she must have sustained heavy injuries… It just so happened that the Snow Region of Extreme Ice had fortunately been struck by a blizzard that day, and there was also a Snow Phoenix Beast in the vicinity. While stuck in the blizzard, the speed, the profound energy circulation, and the vision of ordinary profound practitioners would be greatly reduced. For the Snow Phoenix Beast, however, it just so happens to be the opposite, so Little Fairy borrowed the power of the Snow Phoenix Beast to make a narrow escape under the cover of the snowstorm…”
If not, the results would have been too ghastly to think about.
The only problem was, Yun Che was completely unaware of what happened after that… where she had fled, whether her injuries had been healed, and whether the child in her belly had been harmed… he did not know a single thing. He was unable to even imagine the circumstances she faced at that time. Every time he thought about it, it caused his heart to bleed.
At that time, she was probably all by herself and extremely helpless….
“My royal father once said that good fortune will definitely come in the wake of calamity. If she could avert disaster despite the perilous situation she was in, then it definitely means that even the heavens could not bear to see her harmed and has been protecting her all this time,” Feng Xue’er said in a soft, graceful voice as she tried to comfort him.
“Yes. After hearing Xue’er’s words, I feel much better already,” Yun Che said as he smiled. However, his face soon began to sink once more….
From Xuanyuan Yufeng’s memories, he had also discovered… that she had some sort of relation to the calamity that had struck Frozen Cloud Asgard.
To put it plainly, the relation was that Ling Kun!!
“Big Brother Yun… Big Brother Yun!!”
An anxious cry rang out from behind them. It was Ling Jie’s voice. Yun Che’s expression grew complex as he hesitated for an instant before gradually coming to a stop.
Ling Jie had expended all of his energy chasing them. After much difficulty, he finally caught up and was already so tired that he was gasping for breath. Yun Che turned around and spoke as he looked straight at him, “Little Jie, do you desperately desire to kill me with one stroke of your sword?”
Ling Jie shook his head vigorously as he replied, “No… why would I… I… I have actually come here to thank you.”
“Thank me?” Yun Che gave a bland smile. “Why would you want to thank me? I just turned your Heavenly Sword Villa on its head several times over, fiercely rebuked both your father and grandfather, and I nearly killed your mother. It is good enough that you don’t want to kill me… but instead you want to thank me?”
Ling Jie shook his head yet again. This shake of his head was even more vigorous than the last. He stared straight into Yun Che’s eyes and spoke in a sincere tone, “I know that you let my mother go for my sake… All those years ago, just for the act of kidnapping your family, the Burning Heaven Clan was exterminated down to the last man. Just a few months ago, it is rumored that you killed quite a few princes of Divine Phoenix Nation… and despite my mother doing something that was far more heinous than anything the Burning Heaven Clan did, you still… it was clear that you were extremely angry, but you still let her go. I really have to thank you. Your forgiveness and mercy is something that I will remember for the rest of my life…. The mistake that my mother has made, I… I will definitely do all that I can to make up for it.”
“…” Yun Che silently observed Ling Jie and looked at him for a long time… They had not met for three years and Ling Jie’s aura, figure, and appearance had undergone great changes, but his eyes were still as clear as water. His spirit was slightly moved by this and he extended a hand to lightly pat Ling Jie on the shoulder. “Little Jie, you do not need to thank me, and you definitely shouldn’t mention whatever ‘debt’ you owe me ever again… or could it be that you’ve forgotten that we’re good brothers?”
Ling Jie’s eyes lit up. They gradually began to sparkle as he replied, “I… I… Can I still call you ‘Boss’ like I did in the past?”
“What nonsense are you saying? Of course you can!” Yun Che vigorously shook his shoulder as he replied, “Don’t forget that you became my little brother because you lost to me all those years ago! Are you telling me that you’re now trying to weasel your way out of it?”
“No… of course not!” Ling Jie’s eyes were moist and he took in a large breath of air, struggling against the tears that threatened to leak from his eyes. “Boss, I just knew that you wouldn’t die so easily… I’ve finally, finally gotten to see you again! Furthermore, you’ve become so… so powerful. It is truly my, Ling Jie’s, greatest fortune in life to have been able to meet you.”
Yun Che could clearly hear the joy in Ling Jie’s voice as it quivered with emotion. It reached his heart as well.
“No, the fortunate one is me,” Yun Che said sincerely. “Little Jie, did you know that, when I first met you six years ago, there was a reason why I took the initiative to suggest that we compete with three strikes, and that whoever lost had to be the little brother of the other… At the time, I only wanted to use your status as the young master of Heavenly Sword Villa, so that it would be more convenient for me to make moves in the future… Yet, after that, you braved danger for my sake by coming to the Burning Heaven Clan by yourself. You used your very life to block his sword just so you could stop your grandfather from killing me. Just so you could cheer me on, you travelled to Divine Phoenix Nation by yourself for five thousand kilometers … I really don’t know how it is possible for me to have received such sincere and ardent devotion.”
“Hehe…” Ling Jie was moved once more, so he laughed in embarrassment before replying, “I am your little brother after all. It’s only proper that I do some things for my boss. Furthermore, to be able to follow in your footsteps is something that is… very special to me, a pride that cannot be replaced by anything else.”
“Hahahaha….” Yun Che laughed as he said, “Little Jie, because of what you just said, I must definitely become someone who can make the entire world tremble. I definitely won’t disappoint you.”
Yun Che’s voice trailed off and his face grew solemn. His expression changed, causing Ling Jie’s laughter to subconsciously subside as he spoke, “Boss, do you… have something to say to me?”
“Little Jie, we haven’t met in three years, but your profound strength is so high now. This has something to do with you going to Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, right?” Yun Che asked in an even tone.
“Yes.” Ling Jie nodded his head. “Grandfather loves me a lot and treats me very well. He is also very strict with my training, and during these three years, he spent most of the time personally imparting Heaven’s Might Absolute Sword to me. He has even managed to obtain many Sacred Ground quality resources for me as well.”
As he said this, Ling Jie’s eyes began to light up once more. Yun Che had confirmed many years ago that, even though Ling Jie’s personality was pure and open, deep inside, he was also someone who loved the sword to the point of irrationality. Being able to train his sword skills in a place at the level of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region with a Monarch as his teacher was something that Ling Jie would naturally dream of night and day.
“The words that I am about to say will be hard for you to understand. They may leave you at a loss or even cause you to feel disgust, but it is something that I must say regardless.” Yun Che’s face grew incomparably solemn.
“Ah?” Ling Jie’s expression tightened as he grew nervous.
“This time, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region dispatched two elders. Their goal should be to bring you back to Mighty Heavenly Sword Region to see your grandfather, Xuanyuan Jue. I think that, for you, this is something that you have been anticipating ever since you came back to the villa. I, however, hope that… you never return to the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region.”
“Ah? Why?” Ling Jie asked, mystified.
“I can’t explain it to you clearly.” Yun Che gave a faint shake of his head. “Perhaps, if you stay in Mighty Heavenly Sword Region long enough, you will be able to find the answer with your own eyes. By then, it may already be too late. I can only tell you this: Mighty Heavenly Sword Region may be a sacred land of swords in your opinion, but that is only it’s outer appearance. What it wears on the inside is far dirtier than you can imagine, and far more terrifying as well. The reason why I hope that you do not intertwine yourself too much with Mighty Heavenly Sword Region is because I do not want to see your bright, diamond-like soul get sullied. It may result in a situation where it will not be possible to extricate yourself from that place.”
“I…” Ling Jie’s expression was vacant.
“I also hope that you don’t inherit Heavenly Sword Villa. In terms of either innate talent in the sword or current skill, you are superior to your older brother, Ling Yun. Just based on these points alone, it is only right and proper that you inherit the position of Villa Master of Heavenly Sword Villa. Yet the title of Villa Master does not just come with status and glory. It also comes with far too many burdens, responsibilities, and often leaves your hands tied. The pressure that this status brings will forcibly twist your will and your personality at times… Ling Yun is far more stable than you are. In the future, the position of Villa Master is far more suitable for him than it is for you.”
Ling Jie, “…”
Yun Che patted Ling Jie’s shoulder before finally withdrawing his hand. He began to move backwards, but a faint smile lit up his face as he spoke, “Little Jie, I have said everything that I wanted to say. It is your own life, so you are the one who has to choose your path in the end. Everyone else can only observe and provide counsel. From today onward, if you ever encounter a problem that you can’t solve on your own, you can come to Frozen Cloud Asgard to look for me.”
He waved his hand at the Ling Jie who stood there staring blankly into space. After that, Yun Che took Feng Xue’er’s hand once more and they soared toward the north.
“Boss!!”
Suddenly, Ling Jie’s full-throated yell rang out from behind them, “You are the person I believe in the most… so I’ll listen to what you said… I won’t return to Mighty Heavenly Sword Region… From tomorrow onward… I will leave Heavenly Sword Villa… and roam the entire world… I will be chivalrous and heroic… leaving a good name for Heavenly Sword Villa… I will also work hard to find the Fairy of Frozen Beauty… to redeem my mother’s sins… and I, Ling Jie… will do as I say!!”
Yun Che turned around but Ling Jie had already become a distant blur. He smiled faintly as the burden in his heart became lighter.
Interlude - Looming Clouds of the Devil Sword
Southwest of the Profound Sky Continent, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. Late into the night beneath a waning moon and sparse stars.
The imminent arrival of a new moon was precisely when the bright moon was at its most incomplete state. It was currently late into the night and the sky was veiled behind a thin layer of black clouds. If one raised their heads and looked into the distance, they would only vaguely see an indistinct, slender crescent. Not long after, dark clouds of unknown origins began to silently float over, coming together to form a cluster until they gradually blocked out the light from the waning moon and stars, causing the entire world to not have the slightest sliver of light.
The time of a waning moon at night was also when the power of a certain seal was at its weakest.
In a certain secret underground space so dark that one couldn’t see anything, slow, light footsteps suddenly echoed. The sound of the footsteps echoed steadily. However, the owner of the footsteps had no intention of lighting a lantern nor illuminating a profound light and just continued to walk within the complete darkness, all the way to the bottom of this underground space.
Following the sound of the footsteps stopping, a dusky light was slowly lit. This beam of light appeared to be a murky gray and even released an especially eerie aura. If a normal person were to see this light, they would feel an uncomfortable chill.
What released this murky gray beam of light was astonishingly a sword… the sword was six and a half feet long and a foot wide. Its entire body was pitch-black and was surrounded by a strange black aura. What was even more stranger was that a pair of long and narrow black eyes slowly appeared on the oddly shaped sword hilt.
It was like the eyes of a devil which had suddenly woken up.
This pair of pitch-black eyes was sometimes clear, then dark, as its terrifying gaze looked at the human figure that walked up before it.
“Honored Devil Lord, it has been months since we’ve last met. Today is finally the time when the night is at its darkest during a waning moon.” The human figure slowly began to talk. From the voice alone, it seemed to have come from a middle-aged man.
It was because this sword’s seal would be at its weakest only during the darkest waning night. The “devil lord” in the sword would then have a short period of relative freedom… like being able to talk. Otherwise, if it were to forcibly appear during any other time, it would only cause the seal to accelerate its engulfment. This specific kind of engulfment was irreversible as well, causing it to disappear even quicker.
As for this sword, it had a well-known name.
Heavenly Sin Divine Sword!!
“How goes the process of undoing the seal… and that person named Fen Juechen!”
The Heavenly Sin Divine Sword uttered in a frightening voice. Like the mournful roar of a devil in pain, its voice bounced in waves inside the pitch-black space.
The middle-aged man faintly smiled, “Everything is going smoothly. In just two more months, it will be the precise moment when all thirteen stars are aligned. This happens once every three thousand years and will also be when the Devil Sword Conference is held. When all thirteen stars align, that will also be when the yin energy of the world will be at its pinnacle. The collective power of all the experts of the Profound Sky Continent can definitely undo the seal.”
“As for that Fen Juechen, he will also be there at that time. After all, he is the one who wishes to obtain the Heavenly Sin Devil Sword more than anyone else.”
Beneath the dusky light, one could faintly see the corner of the middle-aged man’s mouth curl into an extremely faint smile.
“Very good.” The terrifying voice rang from the sword, “Once you help this lord undo the seal and seize back the devil blood, this lord will naturally assist you in killing everyone to become the supreme ruler of this world! There won’t be anyone who could be your match then.”
“I only hope that you can keep your word. I wouldn’t want to get an unacceptable result after the troubles I’ve gone through for an entire millennia.” An ominous tone could be heard within the middle-aged man’s flat voice.
“Hahahaha, what kind of an existence am I? How can I possibly lower myself to scheme against you mere humans!? After all, in the end, this lord is but a sword so I do need a wielder. And you are the most suitable wielder!” The Heavenly Sin Divine Sword’s voice suddenly became malevolent at this time. “This lord had also said this to that man surnamed Ye. This lord only wishes to be free and didn’t even hesitate to lower myself to beg him. This lord even offered my only drop of devil blood, beseeching him to help me undo the seal, promising that I would grant them unrivaled power…”
“But once that man surnamed Ye obtained this lord’s devil blood and devil arts, not only did he not help me undo the seal, he had even added several more layers of seals, locked this lord inside the Flame Lake, and told his clan to stand guard there, swearing that this lord will never see the light of day again! If not for you saving this lord, the last wisp of this lord’s remnant soul may have already completely dissipated by now and I would have eternally become a dead sword!”
“You humans are truly the world’s most shameless, lowly creatures!!”
“Hahaha,” The middle-aged man laughed, “Do not worry, Honored Devil Lord, I am not as stupid as the Eternal Night Royal Family which bites the hand that feeds it. During these past years, I have paid an enormous price to slowly undo the seals the Eternal Night Royal Family added to your seal. For the purpose of undoing your last seal, I have even planned the Devil Sword Conference. All this is enough to show my sincerity.”
“This lord believes you! Whether in terms of strength or strategy, you can be considered to be at the peak out of the humans on this plane, worthy of becoming this lord’s wielder. If I were to talk about your greatest fault, it would be that you killed Ye Mufeng a thousand years ago without leaving a single bone! Otherwise, why else did you have to go through so much trouble?!”
The middle-aged man didn’t object, “I had not yet met Honored Devil Lord that year, so how would I know that Ye Mufeng’s bloodline would be of great use? However, in order to leave behind his bloodline, Ye Mufeng didn’t hesitate to call upon the wrath of heaven, using the “forbidden reincarnation technique” Honored Devil Lord mentioned to revive the devil blood that should have been extinguished. That was quite a great help, hahahaha.
“I sealed Ye Mufeng’s soul in the Soul Sealing Coffin, leaving it in Black Fiend Nation’s land of extreme yin, just to keep his remnant soul from dissipating. I even gave the key to the Soul Sealing Coffin to Burning Heaven Clan’s Grand Sect Master Fen Yijue after his son had reincarnated in Blue Wind Nation. I hinted in his consciousness that the key was an inheritance given by their ancestors that could be used during a desperate time. Everything went off without a hitch.
“I originally planned to slaughter Burning Heaven Clan three years before the Thirteen Star Alignment appeared and only leave Fen Juechen alive, letting him take the key to have a reunion with Ye Mufeng. Once he received the previous incarnation’s memories, in order to take revenge and obtain the power to take revenge, he would definitely wish to retrieve the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword and naturally be present at the Devil Sword Conference.
“I never thought that an unexpected accident would happen in my plans. Burning Heaven Clan was actually exterminated by that Yun Che brat. Fortunately, he did not kill Fen Juechen. He had almost ruined my great plans! If he did, dying more than ten million times wouldn’t be enough of an atonement for his crimes!” Contained within the middle-aged man’s voice was a clear-cut sinister killing intent.
“What happened after went exceptionally smoothly. Even though the time frame of my plan happened far too early, Fen Juechen successfully found Ye Mufeng’s remnant soul and his strength has even increased at a shocking rate. However, this event couldn’t be even more wonderful. If he’s too weak, it wouldn’t be easy to ‘logically’ allow him to obtain the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword.”
The middle-aged man’s voice had been flat the entire time, yet within the flatness was an extreme proudness. It was as though nothing in the entire world escaped his eyes, as though any turbulent changes were within his control.
“Honored Devil Lord. I still don’t get it, why must Fen Juechen obtain the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword? Why can’t we just capture him and forcibly take the devil blood?”
“Hmph, if that was possible, this lord would’ve done it twenty years ago instead of going through all this trouble!” The pitch-black devil sword quiety roared. “The seal on my body was in fact, left behind by a primordial god called the ‘Evil God’! Although a million years have passed since then with the seal having become extremely weak, this lord has still been engulfed, with only the smallest remnant soul remaining!! If this seal is not undone soon, this lord will completely disappear! At present, it is already extremely difficult for this lord to exist. It is fundamentally impossible for me to actively take away the devil blood power! That Fen Juechen must release the devil blood and offer it to this lord of his own accord! It can only be so!!”
“With a mere thought of his, this lord shouldn’t even think about seeing the light of day again! All of your hard work would vanish into thin air! Not to mention you forcibly seizing the devil blood!”
“So that’s how it is.” The middle-aged man slowly nodded with a face devoid of emotion. He turned around and then said indifferently, “The Thirteen Star Alignment will happen in two months. At that time, the world will be encased in darkness, yin energy will cover the sky, and it will also be the time when the seal will be at its weakest in three thousand years. By then, almost all of Profound Sky Continent’s Monarchs will be there with a great majority of the Overlords. The gathering of the power of all those Monarchs and Overlords will surely break the seal open.”
“Honored Devil Lord, don’t worry. They will definitely do their best. After all, they are all incomparably anxious to know the ‘devil sword’s’ secrets. Even moreso, they wish to know the so-called ‘secrets of the Divine Profound’, hahahahaha…”
The sound of footsteps echoed once more within the loud laughter as the middle-aged man disappeared within the darkness.
He possessed enough power and influence to blot out the sky with one hand.
He also possessed a devil’s scheming and shrewdness… Even to this day, he still had all the heroes of the realm dancing in the palm of his hand.
Yet not a single person was aware of this.
Nor did was anyone aware that his monstrous plan of becoming the world’s master was already approaching its last step.
Mighty Heavenly Sword Master Xuanyuan Wentian!
Chapter 762 - Hatred Higher Than the Heavens
Floating Cloud City, Xiao Clan.
“Grandfather, Seventh Sister has been pregnant for three months, but we’ve been unable to tell our father and mother all this time. Therefore, Seventh Sister and I are ready to pay respects to them today. Their deceased souls will be very happy to hear this.”
Xiao Yun and Number Seven Under Heaven stood in front of Xiao Lie while wearing joyful expressions on their faces. While they were at Floating Cloud City, and not tied down by the hideous mess that was their family relationships, it was the most relaxed and happy moment the newlyweds had spent in their lives… and that was without mentioning the great joy within Seventh Sister’s belly.
“Hehe, that will be the best of course.” Xiao Lie chuckled and nodded.
“I’m coming as well.” Xiao Lingxi walked over and said cheerfully, “Big Brother and Sister-in-law’s souls would definitely bless the baby…”
“Fifth Elder, Ju… Junior Master Lingxi…”
It was at this moment that an urgent cry came from outside. Then, a young disciple of the Xiao Clan ran in with hurried footsteps and a flustered look.
“What is it that made you look so flustered?” Xiao Lie lowered his eyebrows.
“It’s… it’s Fen Juechen!” The Xiao Clan disciple stopped and exclaimed while panting heavily, unable to even attend to his salutations.
“Fen Juechen!?”
This name caused everyone present to feel shocked on the inside. Number One Under Heaven swiftly took a step forward and said, “Can it be that Fen Juechen is not resigned to defeat, and has come back to seek vengeance?”
N… no.” The Xiao Clan disciple shook his head hurriedly and said pantingly, “S… someone found him… he’s lying at the eastern side of the city… bloody… all over… He looks like he’s… about to… die. None of us dare to approach him…”
Fen Juechen was a name that struck absolute fear in Floating Cloud City and especially Xiao Clan… even though he was the one who protected Floating Cloud City from destruction by the hands of the Divine Phoenix Army.
“Ah?!” Xiao Lingxi cried out in shock before running over, “Quick… bring me to him now, quickly!”
“Lingxi!” Xiao Lie stretched out his hand, but Xiao Lingxi had already hurried out of the courtyard just as he finished his words.
“Don’t worry, I’ll go after her right away. Since Fen Juechen is grievously injured and near death, then naturally he is of no threat.” Number One Under Heaven said before flying into the air and chasing after Lingxi.
“Fen Juechen may be an extremist, but he isn’t a bad person by nature. Moreover, Lingxi, I, and the entire Floating Cloud City owes him a great debt… Sigh.” Xiao Lie let out a heavy sigh.
“…” Number One Under Heaven floated into the air, summoned a gust of clear wind and flew straight towards the south.
“I will send word to Big Brother right away.” Xiao Yun took out the sound transmission jade a little clumsily.
However, Xiao Lie stretched out his hand and halted Xiao Yun’s arm. He shook his head and said, “Leave this matter to Lingxi. Che’er is her family, and that Fen Juechen is her benefactor… Lingxi has been soft and good hearted since she was young. She must be extremely afraid to watch them see each other and fight to the death…”
“Still, that is the hatred born from the destruction of one’s entire family… how can it possible be resolved…?” Xiao Lie closed his eyes and let out yet another long sigh.
——————————
At the east side of Floating Cloud City, Fen Juechen’s black clothes were torn to shreds and was stuck on his body almost entirely by many layers of dry blood.
Although he was severely defeated and injured by Yun Che two days ago, with his current constitution and recovery of profound energy, over two days of time, his injuries had lessened somewhat. At the least, they should not have worsened further. Originally, he was going to leave Floating Cloud City, after leaving the Eastern Ocean and find an uninhabited place to fully recover his injuries and profound energy. However, he ran into Jasmine who searched his soul after he was severely injured by Yun Che… Although Jasmine’s soul searching technique wasn’t as bad as the common soul searching technique that it would turn him directly into a human vegetable, it was definitely unlike the simple read of Yun Che’s Profound Handle Soul Search either. Moreover, Jasmine’s Star God powers were incomparably potent. It may have only been for a short instant, but it was still enough to severely damage Fen Juechen’s mind.
If it wasn’t for the fact that his will was far stronger than the ordinary man, he would’ve died in the Eastern Ocean a long time ago.
With his profound energy almost depleted, and his body and soul both damaged severely, he had crawled with all his might away from the Eastern Ocean, up the shore and all the way to this place… but he did not know where or how far he had climbed. The only thing that drove him so far was the pain and his desire to live.
Very soon, the people of Floating Cloud City found him, and they had all backed away from him in fear, far, far away. No one dared to approach him, much less help him… even though the current Fen Juechen was so weak that a normal kid could’ve taken his life easily.
“I… can’t… die…”
He lay on the ground, so weak that he could not even feel his own breath. He wanted to continue climbing forwards, but his arms had already lost all strength. The only thing that proved that his consciousness hadn’t faded yet was the raspy and cryptic mutters from his mouth.
“Big… Big Brother Fen…”
Xiao Lingxi’s footsteps hurried over. Fen Juechen’s current appearance shocked her greatly. She hurriedly arrived by his side and cried out urgently, “Big Brother Fen, Big Brother Fen…”
Xiao Lingxi’s voice sent a huge impact through Fen Juechen’s soul… perhaps Xiao Lingxi’s voice was also the only thing that could’ve returned some clarity and wakefulness to his currently muddy mind. He tremblingly turned his head sideways, and through blurry vision saw Xiao Lingxi’s face…
“It’s… you…”
“Yes! It’s me… It’s me, Xiao Lingxi!” Seeing that he wasn’t dead, and that he was able to speak barely, Xiao Lingxi’s worry lessened a little. She stretched out a hand in attempt to lift him to his feet, but just as her palm touched Fen Juechen’s arm, she withdrew it back as quick as lightning…
This was because his arm was actually so cold it was as if it was encased in ice.
“Don’t go near him!”
Number One Under Heaven dropped down from the sky. Although Fen Juechen’s current state was not much different from a dead person’s, his expression was still filled with caution, “This man is too dangerous.”
“Big Brother Under Heaven!” Number One Under Heaven was without a doubt a savior in Xiao Lingxi’s eyes to have arrived now, “Help him, quickly. His injury is so severe. If you don’t help him then he’ll… he’ll be in great danger.”
“Save him?” Number One Under Heaven’s eyebrows lowered, “He is an extremely dangerous person who tried to kill Brother Yun! I personally want to kill him now so we can be rid of this threat.”
“No!” Xiao Lingxi hurriedly stood up and blocked Number One Under Heaven, “Big Brother Fen is not a bad person. He really isn’t. The root cause behind his reason to kill Little Che… is all me. It’s not his fault. On the contrary, I owe him my life twice, and it was also thanks to him that Floating Cloud City was safe when it was being invaded by the Divine Phoenix Army. Otherwise, god knows how many people would’ve died at the hands of the Divine Phoenix Army.”
Number One Under Heaven, “…”
“Therefore, I beg of Big Brother Under Heaven, please save him. Think of it… think of it as repaying his favor. Please, Big Brother Under Heaven, I beg you…”
Xiao Lingxi’s eyes rippled with pleading.
Fen Juechen’s spiritual perception might be impossibly weak at the moment, but it was still enough to hear Xiao Lingxi and Number One Under Heaven’s voices. He let out a painful and raspy voice with trembling lips, “Ignore me… I don’t… need you to care for me… Ugh…”
He stretched out a trembling palm, ready to climb away from this place. However, his entire arm moved only half an inch before it could proceed no longer.
“Big Brother Under Heaven…” Xiao Lingxi begged him once more.
“Sigh!” Number One Under Heaven waved his hand and stopped her from continuing any further. He swept a complicated glance at Fen Juechen at his feet before sighing, “Two days ago, during the final moments of the battle, although Brother Yun’s profound energy was greatly depleted, he was in great condition and should have had the ability to kill him easily. Still, he released him… so I suppose even Brother Yun does not truly wish to see him die.”
“Never mind. I hope I’m not doing something stupid.”
Number One Under Heaven might be warlike in nature, but as an elf he was also a good hearted person and disliked killing. Moreover, Xiao Lingxi’s pleading was really hard for him to resist. After a long internal struggle, he ultimately stretched out his hands and formed a refined lump of nature energy in his palm.
The tension on Xiao Lingxi’s face instantly turned into a very faint smile. She said gratefully, “Thank you, Big Brother Under Heaven.”
“However, if he does anything that I believe is dangerous, then I will kill him immediately!” Number One Under Heaven said seriously.
“He will not. He will definitely not. I know better than anyone that he is definitely not a bad person.” Xiao Lingxi said with absolute certainty.
Number One Under Heaven did not say anything. He crouched down and pressed his palm to the back of Fen Juechen’s heart… the second he touched him, his eyebrows abruptly twitched as a nature’s aura swiftly entered Fen Juechen’s body.
“Don’t… touch me!” Fen Juechen roared weakly in disgust and anger.
“Hmph. Goodwill is regarded as malice.” Number One Under Heaven snorted impatiently and swiftly withdrew his hand after injecting a full surge of nature energy. Then, he stood up and looked at Feng Juechen no longer. The nature energy he injected into Feng Juechen could swiftly aid his severely injured body in regaining its life energy. Moreover, it could to a certain degree quicken the recovery of his wounds, although it would not aid in the recovery of his profound energy. In Feng Juechen’s current state, even if he recovered his ability to move, there was no way he could be a threat for a very long time.
Under the miraculous power of the elven energy, Feng Juechen’s eyes gradually regained their clarity. Even his breathing had obviously grown heavier. Xiao Lingxi let out a heavy sigh of relief as she said gratefully to Number One Under Heaven, “Big Brother Under Heaven, thank you… may I trouble you once more to carry him to Xiao Clan? In his current state, he will need a quiet place to be able to recover.”
Number One Under Heaven looked deeply at Xiao Lingxi. He was not surprised at all by her decision. He nodded slightly, grabbed Feng Juechen by the collar and jumped straight into the air, lifting him to fly straight towards Xiao Clan.
————————————
During the time Feng Juechen stayed at Floating Cloud City, he had lived in a courtyard at the corner of Xiao Clan. After he left, no one had ever dared to approach it. Number One Under Heaven threw him right through the window and into the house inside the courtyard. Then he left straight away. He was not a man to let his emotions affect his decisions, and he would never have done something like saving an infinitely dangerous and scary person and bringing him back to his family… However, even if he did not save him, Xiao Lingxi would have thought of a way on her own to take him back to the house, and the process in doing so would’ve been filled with countless hardships. If that was going to be the case, then he might as well do it himself.
It was even more impossible for him to kill Feng Juechen right before her eyes… not to mention that Yun Che did not kill him two days ago either.
That being said, although he had turned around and left, he did not in fact stay too far away from the house. His spiritual perception continued to lock tightly on the courtyard Feng Juechen was in, staying alert against any potential incidents.
“Big Brother Fen, how are you doing? Are you feeling better?”
Xiao Lingxi crouched beside him and asked in concern. With the assistance of Number One Under Heaven’s nature energy, Feng Juechen’s five senses had already recovered mostly. Even his body had regained some strength, although it seemed insufficient to support him just yet.
“Ignore… me…” Fen Juechen turned his head away. The short sentence took him a lot of energy to utter. He was numbed to the intense pain in his body and soul from long ago, but that pain seemed to have decreased quite a bit now that his profound energy was depleted, and his body was grievously injured.
“What’s with the wounds on your body? After you met Little Che that day… did you meet with another enemy?” Xiao Lingxi asked softly. Everyone in Floating Cloud City was afraid of him, and the people in Xiao Clan were so terrified of him they even lost control of their bowels when they saw him. Xiao Lingxi was the only one who was never afraid of him, because she was firmly believed that he was not a bad person.
When he heard Yun Che’s name from Xiao Lingxi’s mouth, Feng Juechen’s pupils abruptly shrank as a fierce hatred gushed up his throat, “I told you… to ignore… me!”
While roaring, he abruptly stretched out and pushed Xiao Lingxi on the shoulder. Xiao Lingxi let out a cry and abruptly fell down on the floor.
Feng Juechen panted heavily, a moment of panic flashing across his eyes… he didn’t think that he had regained this much energy.
Xiao Lingxi was neither afraid, nor angry, nor withdrawn by Feng Juechen’s scolding, anger, hatred and violence. She stood up and said with her voice still as gentle as ever, “Big Brother Fen, I know that you have never been one to depend on others. However, you should not force yourself in your current state. It is best if you set your mind to rest and recover first.”
“I will find you some recovery medicines. Although Xiao Clan is very small, we still have some very good herbs in stock. They will definitely be good for your injuries… Big Brother Fen, rest well for the moment. I will come back in four hours.”
Once Xiao Lingxi finished softly, she stood up and left with light footsteps.
When the girl left, and the door was closed, Feng Juechen’s expression was frozen, and his eyes were blank. For a moment, he looked as if he had lost his soul. After a very long time, he raised his heads and leaned against the icy cold wall behind him. His fists gradually clenched together…
“The death of one’s whole family is absolutely irreconcilable… Yun Che… I will kill you… no matter what… no matter what!!”
The moment Xiao Lingxi exited the courtyard Feng Juechen was settled into, she immediately saw Number One Under Heaven standing there with a solemn expression.
“Big Brother Under Heaven, please… do not tell Little Che about Feng Juechen for the moment.”
“I know.” Number One Under Heaven nodded, “However, that is under the premise that he is not strong enough to threaten me. If his profound energy recovers near to the point where I cannot control him, then either he leaves, or I… will tell Brother Yun.”
“Mm.” Xiao Lingxi nodded lightly and said gratefully, “Thank you, Big Brother Under Heaven.”
Number One Under Heaven let out a faint laugh and shook his head, “You don’t have to thank me. You are the person Brother Yun appreciates the most, so you have the right to be headstrong.” He paused for a moment before choosing to continue, “You should know that a great threat towards Brother Yun will be gone if he is to die. By saving him, you will add a deadly threat towards Brother Yun. Are you… trying to resolve his hatred towards Brother Yun?”
“I know that this is very, very difficult.” Xiao Lingxi lowered her head and muttered softly, “But he did save my life after all. He saved father and Floating Cloud City, and he is definitely not a bad person by nature. The tragedies inflicted on him all started because of me, which is why I cannot ignore it. I only hope… I only hope that…”
“May it be as you wish.” Number One Under Heaven said indifferently before flying away.
“Sigh.” He turned around to glance once at Xiao Lingxi’s delicate figure. When he recalled Feng Juechen’s hatred and killing intent that was so icy that it was impossibly scary when he was facing Yun Che, Number One Under Heaven let out a soft sigh, “That is the hatred of one whole family’s death. To say that it is absolutely irreconcilable is an understatement. So how can it possibly be resolved?”
Time quickly approached evening. After Xiao Lingxi exited the medicine pavilion, she entered Feng Juechen’s courtyard with quick steps.
She pushed open the door and entered, and Feng Juechen was still in the same state as before. His aura seemed to have calmed down quite a bit, and his eyes were half-lidded. He did not appear to be asleep, but he did not react at all towards Xiao Lingxi’s arrival.
“Big Brother Fen, are you better now?”
Xiao Lingxi walked closer while holding a black soup bowl, “This is a freshly cooked medicinal soup. The medicine pavilion elder said that it can improve one’s blood circulation and recover one’s strength…”
Xiao Lingxi wasn’t yet finished when the lifeless Fen Juechen suddenly slapped out and flung the soup bowl in her hands fiercely against the floor. With a pang the bowl shattered as the medicinal soup sprayed everywhere.
“Ah!!” Xiao Lingxi cried out and retreated a step. She said anxiously, “Big Brother Fen, you… never mind. I’ll go cook another bowl for you.”
“I’ll repeat this once more… ignore me!!”
Four hours of rest was enough to for Feng Juechen to recover some strength in his voice. His tone was also deeper than before, “I will leave here before it is dark. From here on… we will never meet each other again!”
“No!” Xiao Lingxi shook her head and said anxiously, “Your wounds are so severe. If you are met with any danger out there, then you may lose your life. At the least… At the least, please heal your wounds before you leave.”
“Do… do you know what you’re doing!!” Feng Juechen abruptly raised his head with clenched teeth, “The reason I’m alive is all to kill Yun Che! If I die, then he’ll be able to live a bit longer. Isn’t that exactly what you want!? Then why are you still trying to save me!?”
Xiao Lingxi shook her head, “No. I do not wish any harm upon Little Che, but I also cannot stand by and watch…”
“Do you think that if you save me, I will be deeply grateful to you and not kill Yun Che!?” Fen Juechen roared through seething teeth, “Don’t be naive! All these years, everything that I’ve worked for, everything that I’ve endured are all to kill him! To this moment I am still doing my best to survive in order to kill him… there is no one and nothing in this world that can stop me from killing him! As long as I still live in this world, I will sacrifice everything to kill him!”
Feng Juechen’s every word was like a heavy hammer that struck Xiao Lingxi in her chest. While holding in her pain, she said softly, “Big Brother Fen, I’ve always known that you’re not a bad person. On the contrary, you’re a very, very good person. Yun Che and I have done you wrong back then, but I believe that you know yourself that Little Che is not a bad or cruel person as well. Back then, everything he did was to protect my father and I… Can the grudge between you two truly not be resolved? Why must it be this way…?”
“Resolved? My entire family died!!” Fen Juechen’s face writhed in pain, “The murder of one’s father is already utterly irreconcilable, but he… he killed all of my relatives; exterminated everyone in my family! He is the one who took away my family and my home and turn me into a lone demon who lives only to claim vengeance! This hatred is higher than the heaven itself… how can it possibly be resolved!? For what reason should it be resolved!?”
“No!” Xiao Lingxi shook her head strongly and placed both her hands before her chest. She stared into Feng Juechen’s terrifying, hatred filled eyes with her own warm and honest eyes, “Who said that Big Brother Fen has lost all of his family and home? Big Brother Fen is definitely not alone.”
Amidst Feng Juechen’s startled gaze, Xiao Lingxi lightly knelt on one knee, and with a raised head and sincere eyes she said, “With the heavens as witness, I, Xiao Lingxi am willing to take Big Brother Fen, Fen Juechen as my elder brother. From this moment onwards, Big Brother Fen is my elder brother. Blessings or hardships, I will bear them both together with Big Brother Fen. The home of Xiao Lingxi, is the home of Big Brother Fen. As Big Brother Fen’s sister, I will do my best to take care of Big Brother Fen, listen to his words, lend him my care and company and endure everything for him. I will never leave Big Brother Fen alone and solitary ever again.”
“If I am to go against this oath, then may both heaven and earth destroy me.”
Words of sincerity. Oath of solemnity. Feng Juechen’s gaze shook greatly as he followed Xiao Lingxi’s gradual lowering hands. His eyes were blurry, and he felt as if he had fallen into a dream. Then, his body and even his soul began to tremble intensely and uncontrollably…
Sis… ter…
Family…
Home…
Chapter 763 - Tears of a Devil
Familial love… Home…
These were things that had long ago vanished from his world and he did not even dare to dream about them any longer…
From the moment he had begun to absorb Ye Mufeng’s devil soul, the only things that were left in his world were pain, ruthlessness, despair and an icy hatred… If an average everyday life was heaven then his life had become complete hell.
And Xiao Lingxi had become the only source of warmth in his entire universe.
She was the only reason he had stayed at Floating Cloud City all this time. As long as he could just catch a glimpse of her once a day, it would bring him endless satisfaction. Iit even made the enormous pain he had to endure while absorbing the devil origin almost bearable. But when it came to drawing closer to her… he had never dared to do so before, because to everyone else, he was terrifying devil god, and it was only in front of Xiao Lingxi that he would feel madly ashamed of the boundless inferiority and timidity that was birthed in his heart.
Because he had long ago stopped regarding himself as a human, and now he only thought of himself as an ugly and repulsive devil; a devil whose soul had been completely stained with filth.
He thirsted for the death of Yun Che… he had originally thought that Xiao Lingxi would not consent to ever see him again after he had left Floating Cloud City that day. He thought she would only be repulsed by him from that day forth, feeling only loathing and hatred for him. During the three months before his duel with Yun Che, he could not control the urge to return to Floating Cloud City so that he could see Xiao Lingxi again. He only gazed at her from afar… because he was afraid that she would find out.
Today, she had not only dragged him back from the borders of death, she had even taken the initiative to recognize him as her brother and become his family, giving him a new home again.
No one knew that her every word and action had such a profound effect on his very soul. It was as if a raging blizzard had blown through his icy world.
He was caught up in a fantasy that he did not dare believe in… but after that Fen Juechen drew back in fright, his body shrinking backwards as he shook his head vigorously, “No, it can’t be… it shouldn’t be like this, you’re definitely… definitely doing this so that I will stop going after Yun Che’s life…”
Xiao Lingxi replied in a very forceful tone, “Big Brother Fen, every single word that I have said, and the vow that I have just made, has come from the bottom of my heart! If… if it was because of Little Che, why would I get Big Brother Under Heaven to bring you back…”
“No, you don’t understand!” Fen Juechen shook his head even more vigorously, his eyes closing shut as his face was filled with pain, “Right now, I’ve become… a devil, a devil who is filled with sin and only lives for vengeance, you can’t understand this… you can’t understand at all!”
“You’re the one who doesn’t understand!!” Xiao Lingxi shouted, “Big Brother Fen, do you still remember how, for the sake of protecting me four years ago, you suffered a broken arm at the hands of your brother Fen Juecheng? Yet you still refused to let go of him… This is something that I, Xiao Lingxi, will remember for the rest of my life. So how can someone like this be a devil!?
“During your time in Floating Cloud City, I always thought that you were constantly suffering. You made yourself cold and cruel, and you even called yourself a devil… But you did all of this for the sake of avenging your family. A true ‘devil’ is someone that is selfish and brutal. How could a true devil give up his own humanity for the sake of his dead relatives and plunge himself into a world of pain!?
“I am afraid of the danger that you pose to Little Che… but what I am even more sure of is that from start to finish, you have been blameless and you have only ever been a victim this entire time. At the very least, you are definitely not the villain that you make yourself out to be…”
“No… do not speak any further.” Xiao Lingxi’s words did not put him at ease, on the contrary, his expression grew even more tortured as he clutched both hands to his head, “You don’t understand, you really don’t understand… I really have become a devil…
“I don’t have the right to be treated this way by you!”
“Whether you possess the qualifications or not is not something that Big Brother Fen can say.” Xiao Lingxi replied in a soft voice as she shook her head, “For me, the word ‘family’ is sacred. In my entire life, the only family I have ever had was Father, Little Che and the newly-returned Xiao Yun. I have never ever once thought of calling someone who was unrelated to me by blood family. But Big Brother Fen isn’t the same… When the Divine Phoenix Army descended on our Floating Cloud City, it was Big Brother Fen who protected us and protected the home where Little Che and I grew up in. So to me, Big Brother Fen is not only a good person and my benefactor, he is also a true hero!”
Fen Juechen, “…..”
“So, I will always respect and feel a sense of intimacy with Big Brother Fen. If Big Brother Fen is willing to become my elder brother, then we can rely on one another, and protect our family together. To me, that will be a most fortunate event that will bring incomparable joy to my heart. If Big Brother Fen rejects me, I will definitely be very sad and despondent.”
Fen Juechen’s body trembled as it froze in place. He stood there, stock still, his eyes glazed over, as if he had become a statue.
“But it seems like Big Brother Fen does not want to be part of my family.” Xiao Lingxi raised her head and looked at him, her eyes clouded by sadness and loss.
“I… I…” Under her unrelenting gaze, the man, who had caused a Divine Phoenix Army that was two hundred thousand strong to tremble in fear and had filled Yun Che with a profound dread, was all of a sudden at a loss for words as he was completely flustered.
“Anyways…” Xiao Lingxi said as she laughed once more. Her blossoming smile caused the world in front of Fen Juechen to explode in light, “I have said all I have wanted to say, and I’ve even sworn such a venomous curse. So I don’t care if Big Brother Fen is unwilling to accept this little sister of yours, because he will always be an elder brother to me from now on! From now on the Xiao Clan will always be Big Brother Fen’s home, and this room will always be yours as well. When Big Brother Fen is at home, I will take care of Big Brother Fen as if he were my own elder brother, and I’ll share both the good and the bad with Big Brother Fen from now on!”
“However, if Big Brother Fen does something wrong, as your younger sister, I will not hesitate to criticize and correct you!!”
Without waiting for Fen Juechen’s reply, Xiao Lingxi stood up, a pretty and coquettish smile appearing on her face, “It’s decided then! Big Brother Fen is badly wounded right now, so no matter what, you can’t resist me! So…”
“Give me a moment, I’ll be back straight away!”
Xiao Lingxi finished her little monologue and immediately scampered away… but before long, she pushed open the doors yet again and she carried a set of clean gray-white clothes in her hands.
“Big Brother Fen, all of the clothes that you were wearing are tattered and torn, and they’re really stinky too. Put on some clean clothes first. Big Brother Fen isn’t used to relying on other people and it looks like you’ve already recovered quite a bit of strength, so you can definitely wear these clothes by yourself. I won’t ask Big Brother Under Heaven to come and help.” She said as she smiled merrily, gently placing the clothes into Fen Juechen’s hands, “Right, these are Little Che’s old clothes, so they should fit rather well.”
When Fen Juechen, whose heart was numbed by his internal turmoil, heard the two words “Yun Che”, a violent emotion instinctively stirred in his heart, “Yun… Che!?”
“Yes!” Xiao Lingxi paid no attention at all to the irregularity in Fen Juechen’s voice and aura and she still smiled sweetly as she replied, “These are the clothes he left behind before he left the last time, and I just laundered them not too long ago. I know that Big Brother Fen truly hates Little Che, but the clothes didn’t do anything wrong. A mighty person like Big Brother Fen definitely shouldn’t be so petty that he won’t even let a set of clothes off… I’ll go and boil up a new batch of medicine, so Big Brother Fen needs to be good and wear these clothes. I’ll be back once the medicine has finished boiling.”
Xiao Lingxi gave a gentle smile as she turned around to leave, closing the door behind her.
The world had suddenly fallen into a dead silence, and Fen Juechen felt his heart beating in his chest with such clear intensity.
He sat there blankly for a very long time, before finally stretching out a hand towards the clothes beside him.
The clothes were folded in a neat and tidy manner, they were completely clean and one could still smell a faint fragrance emanating from them.
These were the clothes of the person he hated the most, Yun Che, and he hated him so much that he hated everything associated with him… he should have been completely repulsed by them, tearing these clothes into shreds and going into a simmering rage. But… at this moment, his heart was bereft of any rage or killing intent when he held them in his hands. Even the act of picking up the clothes was subconsciously done in a careful and gentle manner.
…………
“With the heavens as my witness, I, Xiao Lingxi, take Big Brother Fen as my elder brother… from now on, I am part of Big Brother Fen’s family and my home has also become Big Brother Fen’s family…
“You’re the one who doesn’t understand… I am afraid of the danger that you pose to Little Che… but what I am even more sure of is that from start to finish, you have been blameless throughout, and you have only ever been a victim the entire time. At the very least, you are definitely not the villain that you make yourself out to be…
“…So to me, Big Brother Fen is not only a good person and my benefactor, he is also a true hero!”
“If Big Brother Fen is willing to become my elder brother… To me, that would be the happiest and most fortunate thing…”
“I don’t care if Big Brother Fen is unwilling to accept this little sister of yours, because he will always be an elder brother to me from now on! From now on the Xiao Clan will always be Big Brother Fen’s home…”
…………
Xiao Lingxi’s voice, her every word, and her every action, resounded in his heart again and again as it rippled across every corner of his soul.
Drip…
The soft sound of dripping water was exceedingly clear in this quiet space. Fen Juechen dazedly hung his head… and a damp moistness began to silently spread to the corners of the gray clothes in his hands.
Te… ars…
He extended a trembling finger and touched his face… his fingertips coming into contact with a long trail of wetness…
Tears…
I had clearly already become a devil that had erased all traces of his humanity and emotion, a devil that was only left with sin and vengeance…
Why… do I still have tears…
His fingers were trembling, but his soul was shuddering with even more ferocity. He did not recognize the emotion that filled his soul right now. The only thing that he was aware of were the tears dripping uncontrollably down his face. He could not stop them…
So it turns out that I… could still be… “human”, huh…
————————————————
alyschu: Yes, some of the “flashbacks” from the last chapter were reworded for some reason known only to the author…
Chapter 764 - The Approaching Devil Sword Conference
“Big Brother Fen, the medicine is ready… but I’m going to say this first! This time you better not throw it away petulantly, because if you do, I’m really going to get angry with you!”
Xiao Lingxi pushed the door open as she strode into the room. The medicine in her hand was still boiling so the first thing she did was place the medicine on the little table in front of the door. When she looked at Fen Juechen she discovered that he had already changed his clothes and was standing… Even though his aura was rather weak and his face was pale, he still stood very straight.
Xiao Lingxi’s eyes lit up and she crowed with joy, “Big Brother Fen, it seems like you’re already able to stand up, that’s great!”
No one would have thought that it was possible for Fen Juechen’s heart to have gone through such a tumultuous change in the short period between Xiao Lingxi’s departure and return. Xiao Lingxi’s figure appeared once more in his sight, and nervousness, an emotion that would not have appeared in front of anyone else, crept across the face of the usually calm Fen Juechen as he stuttered, “Xiao Lingxi, I…”
“You’re not allowed to address me like that anymore!” Xiao Lingxi said in a serious tone, “Don’t forget, right now you’ve already become my elder brother, so you need to call me sister, or… you can just call me Lingxi if you like. The three words Xiao Lingxi are far too distant.”
“Hm… these clothes really fit you very well, it is practically as if they were measured and made just for you.” Xiao Lingxi said with a smile as her eyes roamed across Fen Juechen’s body, “But that’s to be expected, because your figure has always been very similar to that of Little Che’s. When I think about it, besides your figure, there are many other similarities that you share with him.”
“I am similar to… Yun Che?” Fen Juechen said in a daze.
Xiao Lingxi raised eyes which were filled with astonishment. This was because Fen Juechen did not give off a bone-chilling, icy-cold murderous aura at the mention of the name “Yun Che”. She gave a light nod of her head, “Yes, you really resemble him in many ways. For example, normally Little Che is a very gentle and warm person, but when he goes up against people who want to harm those who are important to him, he becomes very extreme, just like Big Brother Fen who has been consumed with the desire for vengeance. Also, he has an extremely strong ego. He is very obsessive about things that he wants to do, and he will always bear the burden for every single thing… these are the areas where the both of you are alike.”
Fen Juechen, “…”
“Actually, Little Che recently told me that he did not regret doing what he did four years ago. Yet at the same time, he had always felt some remorse when it came to you. He said that given your personality, not killing you all those years ago was actually far crueler than the alternative. And now, even when he had the chance to kill you, he was unable to bring himself to do the actual deed. If there is any way he can make it up to you, he will definitely do all that he can to make it so.”
“…” Fen Juechen’s arms began to tremble violently.
“Big Brother Fen, I know that asking you to set aside your desire for vengeance is a very selfish thing indeed. After all, you lost all of your relatives. But… but you are clearly such a good person, and Little Che is also such a good person as well. The past can’t be changed anymore, so does it mean that one of you has to die before this matter can reach its ultimate resolution? Is there truly not a slight… not a slight possibility that this does not need to come to pass?”
Fen Juechen raised his arm, and it was as if his gaze penetrated his flesh, and that he was looking at his ice-cold blood which was far darker than a normal person’s, “In order to kill Yun Che, I have paid an enormous price to attain the power that I have today. If I just give up like this… what is the worth of this power that I have given up everything to attain…?”
“Oh, it’s really simple.” Xiao Lingxi said in a soft voice, “Great power need not only be used for vengeance, it can also be used to protect the people that you desire to protect.”
“Pro…tect…”
“That’s right!” Xiao Lingxi said as a faint smile bloomed across her face, “Like Big Brother Fen, Little Che has always been diligently pursuing strength, but the reason he is chasing after strength is not to be able to be victorious in battle, it is so that he can protect the people that he wants to protect, and keep them from coming to any harm. This is also why he chose the heavy sword as his weapon, it is also for the sake of ‘protecting’. So Big Brother Fen can use his own power to protect the ones that he wants to protect… Besides, Big Brother Fen is already so powerful, the ones who are being protected by Big Brother Fen will definitely feel very safe and happy.”
Xiao Lingxi slowly raised her eyes and her starry pupils expanded to form two delicate moons, “And I don’t know if I can also have the privilege of being someone that Big Brother Fen wants to protect? Heh… if that’s possible, then not only will I have Little Che’s protection, but I will also have Big Brother Fen watching over me. Just the thought of this makes me feel like I’m the most fortunate person in the entire world.”
Protect…
My power does not only need to be used for vengeance, it can also be used to… protect her…
Fen Juechen placed a hand on his chest and the evil and icy-cold power that resided in his body, the power that caused even him to feel fear and disgust, suddenly felt rather warm…
“If… I kill Yun Che, will you still be willing to accept my protection?” Fen Juechen mumbled.
Xiao Lingxi did not shake her head, but she did not nod her head either. She merely replied in a soft but resolute tone, “If Little Che is no longer around, then I won’t tarry on this earth for much longer either.”
Fen Juechen, “…!!”
Xiao Lingxi closed her eyes and said in a very soft voice, “Little Che is the person who grew up together with me and he is also the person that treats me the best. In my entire life, almost every single happy thing that has happened to me has occurred because of him. So to me, Little Che is like half of my life. In fact, he is the more important half, so if he isn’t around… then I will never be able to experience happiness ever again.”
“Three years ago, when I received the news of his death, I desired to accompany him as well… but I still had my dear father, so I could not leave him to fend for himself. But right now, Xiao Yun has returned, so now that he is around to accompany father, if anything ever happens to Little Che, I can have peace of mind when I go to accompany him.”
“…” Fen Juechen’s breathing had become rough and heavy, his hand tightened strongly and it seemed as if he was going to rip the flesh off his chest. He recalled the time that he had spent in Floating Cloud City, and during that period, he had seen Lingxi everyday, but he had never seen her smile even once. Her face had been etched with a sorrow and despondency which seemed like it could never be erased.
During the times he had visited Floating Cloud City after Yun Che had returned alive, he no longer saw the sorrow on her face anymore. Instead it had been replaced by a gentle happiness and a warm smile, as if her life had already been completely fulfilled, and she no longer had any regrets in this life.
“Okay… I promise you that from now on, I… will no longer try to kill him.”
The words that had come from his mouth resounded in their souls like peals of heavenly thunder. Xiao Lingxi’s head jerked up violently and her eyes began trembling violently as well, “Big Brother Fen, you… what did you just say? You just… what you said… is… is it true?”
Fen Juechen had thought that saying these words would cause him incomparable pain, but the moment the words had left his lips, it felt as if a huge burden had been lifted off his chest instead. Lingxi’s face was filled with astonished joy and disbelief, a deep sense of satisfaction appeared in her heart.
What was going on…
Why was it like this…
The tens of thousands of lives that were lost when my entire clan died… the absolutely irreconcilable grievance and hatred that I had for him… the hell that I have endured over the past few years…
In the end… all of these things cannot be compared to her smiling face?
Why do I not feel any discontentment or pain…
Just why…
“I will no longer try to kill Yun Che, and even if he stands before me, I will no longer take any action against him… and I won’t do so ever again.” Fen Juechen’s voice did not waver this time, and it was instead filled with sincerity and resoluteness.
“I… I…” Every word sounded like a celestial chorus which had descended from the heavens. Xiao Lingxi’s eyes instantly grew misty as a trail of tears steadily trickled down her face.
“Big Brother Fen… thank you… thank… thank you…” She pressed her lips together with force, she could not stop the joyous tears that were streaming crazily down her face, and her entire body was wracked by sobs.
The corner of Fen Juechen’s mouth crooked slightly… If he was looking at a mirror, he would be able to see that a small smile was playing across his face… and he had thought that he would never be able to smile again.
Lingxi… From this day forth, as long as I am still breathing, anyone can forget about harming a hair on your head ever again… I will not allow anyone to do so!
Number One Under Heaven hovered in the air above the room, his face filled with shock, and a long time passed before he regained his senses.
“Whether it comes to appearance, profound strength or status, she is a far cry from the Little Demon Empress, but Brother Yun had kept pining for her day and night when he was in the Demon Imperial City, could it be… could it be that…”
“Not only does she possess an unmatched intellect, but she also has a soul that shines like a precious diamond.” Number One Under Heaven mused to himself.
————————————————————
Time continued to pass, and within the blink of an eye, two months had passed. It was finally approaching the day that the Devil Sword Conference would be convened.
“Whoosh!!”
Yun Che breathed a great sigh of relief as he returned to his ice pavilion. With a backwards flip, he planted himself on his ice bed… because today, his “grand scheme” had finally come to complete fruition. Aside from the few young disciples who had just been admitted into Frozen Cloud Asgard and could not endure the strength of the medicine, all the other Frozen Cloud disciples had been given a boost in profound strength through his skillful use of the Overlord Pellet… Furthermore, every single person’s power had increased by at least one great realm.
In this short span of time, he had forcefully dragged his sect to a whole new level. This entire undertaking had been equivalent to a few thousand years of accumulation and expansion by any other sect. In the history of the Profound Sky Continent, it was definitely an event that had never ever happened before.
What was even more terrifying was that in the process of increasing the profound strength of the Frozen Cloud disciples, Yun Che had also conveniently opened up all of their profound entrances, so their profound cultivation would be many times faster than it had been from now on… Right now, every single Frozen Cloud disciple had attained the Heavenly God’s Spiritual Veins that other sects could only dream about attaining once every few thousand years or so… so Yun Che’s actions were practically begging for the punishment of heaven.
The process of raising the profound strength of all the Frozen Cloud disciples also counted as a rather rigorous cultivation for him as well, so in these last two months, his profound strength had undergone some growth as well. Ten days before, he had finally managed to break in the sixth level of the Emperor Profound Realm.
“Big Brother Yun, can I come in?”
Feng Xue’er’s tender, graceful and lovable voice came from outside his door and just by hearing that sweet voice, Yun Che felt as if all of the aches and pains on his body had simply vanished. He got up with a “swish” as he replied, “Xue’er, hurry up and come inside.”
Today, Feng Xue’er still wore a set of snowy clothes, she was as beautiful as a divine maiden, as graceful and pretty as a fairy. She was enveloped in Yun Che’s embrace, and with a soft cry, she practically melted into his bosom… During these five months that they had lived together, she had practically become used to his frivolous ways.
“Big Brother Yun, Royal Father just sent me a sound transmission to inform me that the Devil Sword Conference would be officially convening in four days time and that he has already arrived at the Supreme Ocean Palace. He also told me that the majority of the invited powers have already reached the Supreme Ocean Palace as well. When is Big Brother Yun going?” Feng Xue’er softly asked as she was embraced by him.
“Ah? There’s still four days?” Yun Che was slightly shocked as he raised his head and silently calculated the time before nodding his head and replying, “It is not strange that they would all arrive early. After all, the ones who have been invited are all the peak powers that exist within the Profound Sky Continent. The leaders of the Four Great Sacred Grounds will all be in attendance as well. This kind of spectacle has probably only happened a few times in the history of the Profound Sky Continent. Furthermore, the attraction this time is rather enticing, the secret of the Divine Profound huh… heh heh.”
“Then when are we going to make our move?” Feng Xue’er asked. If they were going to fly to the Supreme Ocean Palace from their current location, even given their speed, it would still take them at least ten days. However, with the Primordial Profound Ark, this problem was clearly no longer a problem.
“Hmm…” Yun Che pondered the question for a while before replying, “Then let’s leave tomorrow morning. I still have some other things to do at that place, so it will be good to arrive a bit earlier as well.
“Let’s go and inform all the Junior and Senior Masters first.”
Yun Che and Feng Xue’er arrived at the Frozen End Divine Hall. Murong Qianxue and the others were all within the hall, and every single person was surrounded by a hazy layer of ice crystals and mist. At Yun Che’s arrival, the ice crystals and mist immediately vanished and all of them stood up as they paid their respects towards Yun Che.
“Greetings, Asgard Master.”
Yun Che did a quick examination of the aura of the six people in front of him. His brows knitted together as he asked in an astonished and confounded voice, “To think that not a single one of you was able to make a breakthrough? That is exceedingly strange, all of you have outstanding innate talent, all of your profound entrances have been opened and your profound strength has already reached the Tyrant Profound Realm. You should be able to handle higher-level laws of nature… so why haven’t any of you been able to comprehend the Frozen End Divine Art despite laboring at it for so long… it truly is strange.”
When he had begun cultivating the Frozen End Divine Art, he had only needed a few minutes to comprehend it, and he had only needed a day and a night for his comprehension to deepen. But Murong Qianxue and the others had the Frozen Cloud Art and the Frozen Heart Art as their foundation, moreover, all of them had the Heavenly God’s Spiritual Veins as well, but in the end not a single person could comprehend the Frozen End Divine Art… none of the six of them could make the first step into understanding the Frozen End Divine Art, much less beginning to cultivate it.
“Asgard Master, even though we have tried to forcefully understand the profound art, in the end we cannot circulate our profound energy in accordance with it. Furthermore, the laws of nature that are contained within flit in and out of our minds and they are exceedingly hard to grasp… many years ago, when we tried to cultivate the Frozen End Divine Art, the results were the same. Despite undergoing an enormous breakthrough in our profound strength, the results are still the same.” Mu Lanyi said as she furrowed her crescent brows together.
“It seems as if we are destined to never be able to learn the Frozen End Divine Art.” Murong Qianxue said with a soft sigh, “However, this isn’t because we are slow or lacking in talent. In the thousand year history of the Frozen Cloud Asgard, there have only been three people who were able to cultivate the Frozen End Divine Art. The first person was the Frozen Cloud Ancestor, and the other two people are the Asgard Master and Xia Qingyue.”
Yun Che raised a hand to his jaw and just as he was about to lapse into deep thought, Jasmine’s voice resounded in his heart, “It’s better if you just saved your strength and stopped trying. Even if you gave them another ten thousand years, they would still not be able to cultivate the Frozen End Divine Art.”
“Eh? Why?” Yun Che said in shock.
Chapter 765 - The Peculiar Frozen End Divine Art
“The Frozen End Divine Art made a sudden appearance a thousand years ago due to the Frozen Cloud Ancestor, Mu Bingyun. Before that there were no previous records of it. Didn’t you find something fishy about that? This profound art is not as simple as you believe it to be… and if you want to cultivate it, you will need the blood or soul of a certain divine beast. If not, even if your comprehension is top-notch and you are able to understand it, you will never be able to release even the teeniest bit of its power.”
“Just like how someone that does not have the Phoenix bloodline will never be able to truly cultivate the ‘World Ode of the Phoenix’!”
“What?” This time Yun Che was not just taken aback, he was truly shocked, “So what you’re saying is that the Frozen End Divine Art is actually a primordial divine art that was left behind by a certain divine beast?”
“Wait, wait, that’s not right!” Yun Che suddenly recalled something as he blurted out a response, “If that’s the case, then how come I can cultivate it? And how the heck did Qingyue cultivate it as well?”
“Hmph, that is because Xia Qingyue has the Nine Profound Exquisite Body, so she can break through the boundaries of most natural laws! As for you, you have the Evil God Profound Veins, so you can ignore both the natural order and the laws of nature. Moreover, you also have the Water Spirit Evil Body… All those years ago, you managed to forcibly skip four levels of the World Ode of the Phoenix and comprehend the fifth and sixth level of it, so forcibly cultivating the Frozen End Divine Art was the much easier feat by far.” Jasmine explained in a bland voice. However, she had not mentioned any of this before Yun Che had returned to the Profound Sky Continent, she only felt that the Frozen End Divine Art seemed somewhat familiar.
“However, whether it was you or Xia Qingyue, even though the Frozen End Divine Art that the both of you use far outstrips that of any normal ice-based profound art, it is merely a pale shadow of the true Frozen End Divine Art… but if you think about it, the true ‘Frozen End Divine Art’ is a primordial divine art that is on the same level as the World Ode of the Phoenix!”
“On the same level as the… World Ode of the Phoenix?” Yun Che exclaimed in shock. He had rarely used the Frozen End Divine Art after he had learned it because even though it could produce several peculiar effects in certain situations, in terms of raw strength it was far weaker than the World Ode of the Phoenix or the Golden Crow’s Record of the Burning World. If their strength was supposed to be on the same level… then did it also mean that the primordial divine beast who passed it down was an existence that was on the same level as the Phoenix?”
“During the Primordial Era of the Gods, the Vermillion Bird, the Phoenix and the Golden Crow were the three supreme fire attribute beasts. The element of water also had three supreme rulers as well, and that was the Blue Dragon, the Ice Phoenix and the Ice Qilin! Ice was the form of water that possessed the most might, so the Ice Phoenix’s and Ice Qilin’s power was governed by ice. Only the Blue Dragon’s power was governed by water, so the power of its ice was inferior to that of the Ice Phoenix and the Ice Qilin.”
“Furthermore, this ‘Frozen End Divine Art’ is actually the primordial divine art that was passed down by the Ice Phoenix!”
“Ice… Phoenix?” This was the first time that Yun Che had ever heard that name, he replied in a low voice, “Phoenix… Ice Phoenix… Could it be a primordial divine beast that was related to the Phoenix but possessed a contrasting element instead? Since this was something that was passed down by the Frozen Cloud Ancestor, Mu Bingyun, then it means that she could cultivate it, which in turn means… that she received the inheritance of the Ice Phoenix Divine Beast?”
“So this means that besides the legacies of the Dragon God and the Phoenix, there is also a place in the Profound Sky Continent that contains the legacy of the Ice Phoenix?” Yun Che asked. If that was truly the case, then if he was able to find out where the legacy of the Ice Phoenix Divine Beast was concealed and obtain either the blood or the soul of the Ice Phoenix, his own Frozen End Divine Art would definitely receive a huge boost in power. Frozen Cloud Asgard would also then be able to ascend to even greater heights.
“Heh…” Jasmine naturally knew exactly what Yun Che was thinking of and she replied in a disinterested voice, “And how do you know that she obtained the legacy of the Ice Phoenix on the Profound Sky Continent?”
“I can definitively confirm one thing for you, this world definitely does not contain the legacy of the Ice Phoenix. If my conjectures are accurate, Mu Bingyun lost all of her memories all those years ago, and after that, as she slowly recovered, she established the Frozen Cloud Asgard and left behind the Frozen End Divine Art. Yet, no one could cultivate it. After that, when she recovered her memories, she also remembered that the Frozen End Divine Art could not be learned by ordinary folk, so she created the far-inferior ‘Frozen Cloud Art’ which could be cultivated by normal people.
Yun Che, “….”
“But do keep in mind that everything that I’m saying is merely conjecture. The real truth is something that probably nobody knows, and there is no need for you to dig any deeper as well. All you need to know… is that asking them to learn the Frozen End Divine Art is merely a waste of time.”
After Jasmine had said her piece, she did not bother herself with him any further.
Yun Che stood there, staring blankly into space for a good long while. Jasmine’s words had clearly indicated that the Frozen Cloud Ancestor, Mu Bingyun, was not a person who belonged to the Profound Sky Continent.
No, Jasmine had said “in this world”, so she was not only referring to the Profound Sky Continent.
Could it be that the person who had created the Frozen Cloud Asgard was actually someone from another world!?
It was also clear that Jasmine knew something about it, but she did not intend to clarify it for him in the slightest.
“Asgard Master, we will continue to try for a while longer. But if we haven’t accomplished anything within a year, then the only option we have left is to give up.” Jun Lianqie said.
“If it’s the Frozen End Divine Art…” Yun Che looked for the right words before he opened his mouth to speak, “There are a few things about it that are quite unique, and there are a few hurdles that cannot be overcome by hard work or comprehension. It’s through no fault of your own that all of you are unable to cultivate it. Thus, let’s set aside the matter of cultivating the Frozen End Divine Art for now. Cultivate the Frozen Cloud Art to its highest level, its power should not be any weaker than the Frozen End Divine Art.”
“Yes, we will do as Asgard Master commands.” Currently, the entire Frozen Cloud Asgard had long ago began to regard Yun Che as a deity, and so his word had become law.
“Tomorrow morning, I will travel to Supreme Ocean Palace with Xue’er, so that we can attend the Devil Sword Conference. It will be roughly six or seven days before we can return. During this period of time, I will have to trouble Senior and Junior Masters to guide and supervise all the other disciples in building up their foundations. It would be best if they did not hastily attempt to cultivate the Frozen Cloud Art for the next two to three months.” Yun Che reminded them, “Other than that, if any accidents happen during this period of time, let me know immediately and I will rush back as soon as I can.”
“You’re leaving tomorrow?” The six of them huddled closer and Murong Qianxue glanced at Feng Xue’er before speaking, “I heard that the Devil Sword Conference will be a gathering of all the heroes of the realm, and the peak experts of the Four Great Sacred Grounds will all be present as well… when Asgard Master reaches that place, he must definitely be cautious.”
“Xue’er, we will have to trouble you to protect our Asgard Master.” There was a layer of worry that was hidden just beneath Murong Qianxue’s calm exterior… After all, it was a gathering that was on the level of a Sacred Ground. Even though Yun Che was strong, once he reached that place, there would be far too many people that were stronger than him.
Especially Sun Moon Divine Hall, who had a grudge against him…
After all, they were painfully aware that Yun Che’s “master” did not exist. The moment this flimsy pretence was laid bare, the consequences would be unimaginable.
“Mn, I will protect Big Brother Yun. Furthermore, we are not going to the Devil Sword Conference to do battle, so there shouldn’t be too much danger involved.” Feng Xue’er said with sweet laugh.
“…Asgard Master.” Chu Yueli hesitated for a while before stepping forward, “Qingyue has not sent us a sound transmission after all this time. Since the Devil Sword Conference is going to be a gathering of all the heroes of the realm, perhaps we might be able to find out some news from there?”
“Mn, I understand.’ Yun Che said as he nodded his head, but in his heart, he was aware that it was extremely likely that Xia Qingyue was not on the Profound Sky Continent anymore. Or else, she would have long ago attempted to make contact with Frozen Cloud Asgard.
And as for where exactly she ended up in… his desire to find out was stronger than anyone else’s.
————————————
At the same time. Illusory Demon Realm, Southeastern Region.
The normally quiet and peaceful mountain range had presently been transformed into a sea of fire. Startling explosions ripped through the air; they were so loud that they could be clearly heard within a fifty kilometer radius. The nearby mountains shook violently and seemed to be on the verge of collapse as boulders tumbled through the air.
“Duke Ming, you reprehensible traitor, stop resisting and accept your fate!!”
Mu Feiyan, Mu Yubai, Su Xiangnan and Lin Guiyan exerted all of their strength, profound light exploding from their bodies and their faces flushed red from the effort, as they tried their best to surround one man… Besides the four of them, there were still another eight people prowling in the background, waiting and preparing for the moment their prey attempted to escape the encirclement. Each and every one of these eight people was on the same level as a grand elder of a Guardian Family.
Any one of these twelve people could be counted amongst the most powerful practitioners within the Illusory Demon Realm. Such a startling array of strength had been assembled, all for the sake of one person…
Because that person was Duke Ming!!
“Hahahaha, you vermin think that you are worthy enough to force this duke to submit!?”
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!
When it came to desperate battles at the level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, every single profound energy explosion would contain earth-shattering might. As the battle raged on, the land in a hundred kilometer radius of the fight had been completely devastated, countless profound beasts were buried before they could even react to their demise.
Duke Ming had used the blood escape to flee from Demon Imperial City at that time, but that also caused him to lose a lot of his blood essence, greatly injuring his vitality. After that, he was constantly fleeing for his life, and he could barely find a moment to catch his breath. Given the power that Duke Ming had previously, even if Mu Feiyan and the others combined their strength, all four of them would still have tasted bitter defeat at his hands. But right now, they could actually suppress Duke Ming and prevent him from fleeing.
“Duke Ming, you old villain! This old man was truly befuddled and confused all those years ago! To think that I believed you instead of the Demon King, holding your words as truth and his words as false… Today, this old man needs to bury you personally!!” Mu Feiyan roared in fury as he and Mu Yubai forged an enormous ice-cold domain; Duke Ming was being assaulted by unending shards of ice every single second, and many bloody wounds had been gouged in his body.
“You want to bury this duke!? Hahahahaha… I will bury you first!!”
Duke Ming’s expression turned sinister as a wild laugh tore from his throat. His entire body suddenly glowed with a bloody light, and two enormous skulls made of red-black flames suddenly coalesced in the air above them before fiercely descending down from above.
“Patriarch Mu, be careful!!”
These were flame devils conjured by Duke Ming, so they possessed an incomparably terrifying might. Su Xiangnan’s heart was jolted by shock and he swiftly changed his angle of attack, a hundred thousand sword shadows instantly congealing into one sword as it thrust towards the flame devils, wild gales howling in its wake.
“Divine Wind Sword!!”
But as the two flame devils descended, they changed their trajectory midair. They no longer targeted Mu Feiyan, but rushed towards Lin Guiyan instead.
Boom!!
It would be extremely hard for Lin Guiyan to even fend off one flame devil, much less two of them. Lin Guiyan’s face blanched as he tried to endure the full might of the assault, but after a single breath, he let out a miserable cry as he was engulfed by crimson black flames. In the next instant, the attack had sent him flying, blood spraying in the air as he went.
Riip!!
Su Xiangnan’s Divine Wind Sword had opened a hole in Duke Ming’s shoulder, a bloody, gaping wound that one could see through. But the four man encirclement had been blasted wide open. Duke Ming had to eat this attack, but he let out a wild laugh instead as he took his opportunity to swiftly flee.
“Dammit… hurry up and restrain him!!” Mu Yubai roared.
The moment Mu Yubai yelled, the eight grand elders that had been lurking in the shadows simultaneously rushed towards Duke Ming. But Duke Ming had long been prepared for this moment, even before he had broken out of his encirclement. Before the two closest grand elders neared him, two clusters of crimson black flames suddenly exploded from his palms, their terrifying might instantly shattering the nearby space into fragments.
A wounded tiger was still a tiger after all. Duke Ming had been the strongest person in the entire Illusory Demon Realm at one point, so even though he had lost a lot of blood essence, causing his profound strength to fall dramatically, a grand elder from a Guardian Family would still find it exceedingly hard to restrain him.
Amidst the huge explosions, both of the Mu Family’s grand elders were tossed aside like ragdolls. By the time they had managed to regain control of their bodies, Duke Ming’s wild laughter already echoed from several hundred meters away.
“Shit… chase him! Quickly! It was really hard for us to pin down his location in the first place, so this time, we can’t let him escape no matter what!!” Mu Feiyan yelled shrilly. The Little Demon Empress had given them a time limit three months ago, and if they were not able to capture Duke Ming within three months, they would all have to sever a finger in apology.
Boom!
A dull and heavy explosion suddenly rang out in the distance as a golden light illuminated heaven and earth. Duke Ming’s wild laughter was abruptly cut off, and what replaced it was a miserable scream of pain.
Bang!!
Duke Ming was fiercely smashed from the air to the ground, a cluster of golden flames slowly burning on his chest. He rolled on the ground in pain as all of the crimson black flames on his body desperately surged forth. It took several seconds before they could finally suppress and extinguish those golden flames. He raised his head to the sky, and his eyes showed a fear that he had rarely displayed in his lifetime.
A figure clad in rainbow colors slowly descended from the air above. Her figure was petite and delicate, her exquisite features were so beautiful that they would cause the sun and the moon to lose their luster, but those delicate, slanted brows held an incomparable dignity and majesty that caused all to tremble before her.
Her appearance seemed to cause the entire world to stop in place, and even the sound of the roaring flames had completely disappeared.
Chapter 766 - Crippling Duke Ming
“Li… Little Demon Empress!” Duke Ming held a hand to his chest, his entire body trembling uncontrollably… he had been strong enough to arrogantly look down upon the entire world, so he did not want to display fear in front of anyone, but right now his body betrayed him as it shivered uncontrollably…
Because his body had clearly felt the approach of death itself.
The moment Lin Guiyan, who had been sorely wounded by Duke Ming, saw the Little Demon Empress, he ignored the blood streaming from his mouth as he hurriedly knelt down to the ground and said in a quavery voice, “I greet the Little Demon Empress!!”
The ones who had been marked with the Slave Imprint had all become the loyal dogs of the Little Demon Empress.
“We greet the Little Demon Empress.”
All of those present paid their respects to her. Mu Feiyan quickly strode forward, bowing towards her as he said, “With the Little Demon Empress personally taking a hand in this, Duke Ming will find it hard to flee even if he suddenly grows wings!” His eyes swiveled towards Duke Ming and he barked out a furious command, “Restrain the traitor!!”
Before the words had even finished escaping his lips, Mu Yubai, Su Xiangnan and the eight grand elders moved in unison, but this time, a clear and indifferent voice rang across the intervening space, “Withdraw, nobody is allowed to interfere.”
A shudder passed through Mu Yubai and the others. They ground to a halt in panic and began to scramble backwards.
It was clear that the Little Demon Empress wanted to kill Duke Ming herself… to use his blood to quench the hatred and need for vengeance of the Illusory Demon Imperial Family.
Even though Duke Ming was strong, given the Little Demon Empress’ current strength, killing him would be as easy as swatting a fly.
Right before this, the world had been filled with explosions that seemed to come from hell itself but right now, that same world was deathly silent. The Little Demon Empress’ eyes bored into Duke Ming, her flat and emotionless expression bearing no trace of rage or indignation, no signs of joy or sorrow. Yet everyone who was present felt a pressure building up in their hearts and souls and found it hard to even breathe.
“Huan Caiyi…” The terrifying silence caused Duke Ming to feel as if his chest was about to explode. In the end, he could no longer endure it and croaked out hoarsely, “This duke… really regrets deciding not to simply kill you one hundred years ago!”
“Hmph, you’re about to die yet you still dare to spout such arrogance!” Mu Feiyan rebuked him furiously.
The Little Demon Empress did not say anything, and she also did not get agitated by Duke Ming. She slowly and gently raised her petite and exquisite little hand, her tender white palm pointed in Duke Ming’s direction.
This simple gesture of hers caused Duke Ming’s pupils to suddenly contract. He let out a fierce and desperate howl, both his palms thrusting outwards as all of the profound energy in his body crazily surged forth. Fallen Devil Flames raged throughout the sky as Duke Ming thrust them towards the Little Demon Empress with a yell.
If the extremely dense Fallen Devil Flames released their full might, they were able to reduce a city to ashes within a matter of minutes.
The Little Demon Empress’ face did not even twitch; it remained completely emotionless, but a golden light flashed in the center of her brows. She pushed her little hand forward lightly and a brilliant golden light covered the sky. Golden Crow flames began igniting furiously as they moved against the Fallen Devil Flames. Every time the terrifying and sinister Fallen Devil Flames came into contact with the Golden Crow flames, they reacted in the same way as a devil touched by holy light. The Fallen Devil Flames let out an ear-piercing shriek, trying to flee away as they were distorted and quickly consumed…
“Hahahahahaha…” Duke Ming’s hoarse and wild laughter could be heard behind the cover of the Fallen Devil Flames, “Huan Caiyi… you think that you are able to kill this duke… stop dreaming!!”
Pfft!!
A large cloud of blood violently sprayed out from Duke Ming’s mouth, the blood mist fell from the sky and poured over him, causing his entire body to slowly become transparent as he began to… disappear within the bloody mist.
“It is the Blood Escape!!” Mu Yubai yelled in shock. During that time in the Demon Imperial City, Duke Ming had used this marvelous and strange Blood Escape to slip through the Little Demon Empress’ grasp.
The Fallen Devil Flames that Duke Ming had used to attack the Little Demon Empress at full force were only to obstruct her. His real motive had been to pull the same trick once more, and run away using the Blood Escape… the Blood Escape was conjured by spending blood essence, but using it also came with disastrous consequences. If it was not a life-or-death scenario, he definitely would not even contemplate using it. Moreover, the two times that he did use it were when he was facing the Little Demon Empress… because if he did not pay this terrible price, the only outcome waiting for him would be a miserable death!
“Hmph!!”
The Little Demon Empress’ eyes, which were brighter and more beautiful than a full moon, narrowed slightly. She gave a faint but cold snort as the flames all around her flashed and in an instant, they pierced through the layered Fallen Devil Flames. She sketched a small gesture with her hand as she pointed towards the location where Duke Ming had just vanished from.
When they had searched the hidden sanctuary that had been buried underneath Duke Huai Palace, they had also managed to find the forbidden Blood Escape technique. And given the long period of time that she had to study the technique, she had already grasped its entirety. Therefore, Duke Ming was the person who was dreaming if he thought that he could use the Blood Escape to flee from the Little Demon Empress once more.
Bang!!!
Flames exploded everywhere as the very air itself was explosively torn apart. Amidst the exploding spatial fragments they could see Duke Ming, who had already disappeared, being hurled screaming back out. His body smashed heavily against the ground, his entire body twitching and spasming. He glanced at the Little Demon Empress’s ice-cold face and his entire body started trembling in fear. His expression warped into one of abject terror, as if he had seen a ghost.
“You… could not possibly… could not possibly…” Duke Ming stuttered, his face and lips losing all their color. Given his might and power, if he went all out in a fight against the Little Demon Empress, he could definitely still hold his own for a period of time. But when he used the Blood Escape technique, he had lost a lot of blood essence. Not only did this injure his innate strength, it would also put him in a severely weakened state for the next few days.
At this time, even a single Mu Yubai could consign Duke Ming to death with a twitch of his fingers, much less the Little Demon Empress.
The first time he had used the Blood Escape, he had managed to run away successfully.
This time, not only had he not succeeded in his endeavor, he had even wasted all of that blood essence for nothing, putting himself in even more dire straits.
The Little Demon Empress’ eyes were like two chips of ice. Her hand lifted up and fell again, as a cluster of golden flames mercilessly struck the location of Duke Ming’s dantian.
Boom!!
The flames blew apart and the ruthless Golden Crow flames crazily surged into Duke Ming’s profound veins. The flames mercilessly incinerated the profound veins that had been drastically weakened by his loss of blood essence… Duke Ming’s incomparably miserable and wretched howls rang out into the sky, they were so shrill that he felt like his throat was about to be ripped apart. Moreover, all the profound strength and profound arts that he had painstakingly cultivated for nearly a thousand years were being swiftly burned away by those cruel Golden Crow flames…
The faces of everyone present warped in fear as a bone-tingling chill was sent down their spines… For people on their level, having one’s profound strength crippled was a fate even more dreadful than death.
The Golden Crow flames only stopped burning once they reduced Duke Ming’s profound veins to cinders. Duke Ming did not lose consciousness, but he had lost nearly all his profound strength, so his ability to endure pain was only a small fraction of what it had been before. His face was so distorted that he looked like an evil spirit and his body was curled up into a fetal position. From his trembling lips, he issued a voice that was incomparably weak but also extremely malicious, “Huan Caiyi… even if this duke… descends into the depths of the netherworld… I… will never let you off!!”
“I’m afraid you won’t have the chance.” The Little Demon Empress said, her voice so cold that it cut to the bone, “Because once you reach the netherworld, the ancestors of our Illusory Demon Imperial Family will not let you off either, and neither will the ancestors of all the Guardian Families. In fact, even your own ancestors will not have mercy on you!!”
“ARGHHHHHHHH!!” Duke Ming’s blood-curdling howl of frustration and hate was as desolate and hopeless as any demon’s.
The Little Demon Empress raised a palm and she made a simple gesture with her finger as four beams of fire shot towards Duke Ming’s arms and legs. They instantly charred his limbs black and one last beam of fire shot directly into his mouth, causing all of his teeth to explode… and before the fragments could even fall to the ground, they had already been burned up in midair.
Duke Ming’s eyes rolled back as his whole body went rigid and he directly passed out due to the extreme pain.
It was during a warm spring afternoon, but Mu Yubai and the rest who were watching felt their entire bodies go cold. They had slowly and cautiously crept closer… but Duke Ming’s miserable state did not elicit the slightest bit of pity from them.
Because the sins that he had committed could not be repaid even if the cruelest punishments on the earth was inflicted on him!
“Little Demon Empress, why didn’t you kill him?” Mu Feiyan asked cautiously. The Little Demon Empress had not taken Duke Ming’s life, she had only crippled his profound strength.
Moreover, she had also destroyed all four of his limbs and all of his teeth, so he would not be able to take his own life even if he wanted to.
“He caused my royal father to die, killed my royal brother, brought the clan of the Demon Emperors to the brink of extinction, nearly consigned the Yun Family to the abyss, and plunged our entire Illusory Demon Realm into a hundred years of chaos… With crimes of this magnitude, killing him like this would simply be doing him a favor!”
“Oh, I won’t let him die. In fact, this empress will make sure that he lives on no matter what! For the next hundred years! And during these hundred years, this empress will ensure that each and every day, every single second of his life, will be filled with the cruelest and most painful tortures imaginable!”
Mu Feiyan fiercely fought down the shudder that threatened to course through his body.
Everyone else felt their bodies tense up and they dared not even breathe too loudly.
“Furthermore, as Yun Che has said before. A living person is far more useful than a dead person can ever be.” The Little Demon Empress glanced to the side and did not spare Duke Ming a further glance, “Patriarch Mu, how much longer will it be before the Yun Family’s Space Splitting Ring can be used again?”
Mu Feiyan’s words practically tumbled over each other as he replied, “This old man has personally confirmed this sound transmitted with Yun Qinghong yesterday. Within ten days, the Space Splitting Ring will be fully operational. After that, it can make a single trip to the Profound Sky Continent.”
“Ten days?” The Little Demon Empress asked, her brows faintly creasing.
“Ten days was the conservative estimate. At this present moment, the Yun Family is doing all that they can to restore the Space Splitting Ring’s functionality. The various Duke Palaces are also doing all that they can to assist the Yun Family so I believe that it will be shorter than the estimated ten days… Pardon my impudence, but once the Space Splitting Ring becomes operational again, can this old man also accompany you on your trip?” Mu Feiyan asked cautiously. He also missed Yun Che very much.
“There is no need!” The Little Demon Empress said, giving a flourish of her robe as she turned around and floated into the air, “This empress will make this trip alone!”
The Little Demon Empress’ figure wavered like a misty cloud, but in the blink of an eye, she had already disappeared into the distance. It was only then that Mu Feiyan let out a heavy sigh of relief. He gave Duke Ming a glance before spitting out a few words, “Capture this evil traitor and drag him back to the Demon Imperial City! Remember, we need to reserve some profound energy to stabilize his wounds, we must definitely not allow him to die.”
“To think that the Little Demon Empress wants to venture forth to the Profound Sky Continent by herself.” Mu Yubai mused as he walked over, his expression strange.
“This actually isn’t that surprising. To the people of the Illusory Demon Realm, that is an extremely dangerous place. Every additional person means that there will be one additional source of possible trouble and danger. Contrary to expectations, it would actually be safer for the Little Demon Empress if she went by herself. This old man believes that given the Little Demon Empress’ current power, there isn’t anyone on the Profound Sky Continent that can pose a threat to her.” Mu Feiyan said truculently
“Heh heh.” Su Xiangnan chuckled as he walked over as well, his tone thick with suggested meaning, “The Little Demon Empress is extremely worried about dear nephew Yun Che. Every time she meets Patriarch Mu or Brother Yun, she will definitely ask about the Space Splitting Ring. So it seems like the relationship between our Little Demon Empress and our dear nephew is most certainly not only the ‘Golden Crow Divine God’s will’.”
“Tsk, tsk! For someone like Yun Che, there are only girls who are unworthy of him. There will never be a girl that he can’t match up to, so the intensity of the feelings that the Little Demon Empress has for him is simply the way things should be. After all, just whose grandson is he? Hahahahaha!!”
Mu Feiyan placed both hands behind his back, striding forward as he roared in laughter. Every time he either thought or mentioned his grandson, his face would turn ruddy and he would release a vigorous and hearty aura.
————————————————
Profound Sky Continent, Divine Incense Nation.
Divine Incense Nation was located at the southern part of the Profound Sky Continent and it was also the location that was closest to the Profound Sky Southern Ocean. Thus, it was also the country closest to Supreme Ocean Palace.
It was early in the morning and the sky had just started to light up. Yun Che and Feng Xue’er were sitting in the Primordial Profound Ark, having teleported from the Frozen Cloud Asgard to Divine Incense Nation in the blink of an eye.
“Grandfather said that Divine Incense Nation is known for growing a mysterious plant called ‘Thousand Fragrance’, and the fragrance of this plant would spread very far. So one can smell this fragrance everywhere in the Divine Incense Nation, and it is also possible that this is how the name Divine Incense Nation came about in the first place.”
Yun Che flew steadily in the direction of the Southern Ocean, as he wracked his brains for any stories about Divine Incense Nation that he could tell to Feng Xue’er.
The reason they had not directly teleported into the Southern Ocean Region was naturally to prevent the existence of the Primordial Profound Ark from being exposed.
“I will soon be able to see royal father once more. After leaving Lord Phoenix God, this is the first time I have left royal father’s side for so long. I wonder how he’s been doing during this period.” Feng Xue’er said softly.
The sky grew brighter and brighter and the moment the warm sun finally appeared in the eastern sky, the boundless blue ocean also appeared in their vision.
The Profound Sky Southern Ocean!
One thousand five hundred kilometers to the south of the border of the Profound Sky Southern Ocean lay one of the Four Great Sacred Grounds—Supreme Ocean Palace.
Chapter 767 - Floating Ocean Palace
Not long after flying over the coastline and reaching the airspace of the Southern Ocean, a peculiar blue radiance finally appeared in the vision of Yun Che and Feng Xue’er… emitting this blue glow was a not so large island.
“This is it, let’s descend.”
Yun Che pulled on Feng Xue’er’s little hand, and together, they descended onto the island. As Feng Xue’er raised her hand and gently touched her face, her absolute beauty which eclipsed the world suddenly appeared from below the layer of satin.
Yun Che retrieved the hexagonal jadestone which Ji Qianrou had given him from within his Sky Poison Pearl. This jadestone was specifically a piece of Sea God Jade. It had been engraved with the invitation for and date of the Devil Sword Conference, as well as the directions to Supreme Ocean Palace.
Arriving atop the island, a cool, refreshing sea breeze blew over as if greeting them. The entirety of the small island was empty, but when Yun Che and Feng Xue’er had descended, two figures appeared in front of them like ghosts.
“Have the two of you come for the Devil Sword Conference? If so, please show your Sea God Jade. If not, leave!”
Both of them wore blue clothes and had stiff expressions. Although respectful, there was still a clear trace of undisguised arrogance and pride.
This was because they were the disciples of Supreme Ocean Palace! Although all of the visitors this time were the most powerful practitioners and forces amongst the Profound Sky Continent, the only ones who could be considered to be on equal footing with them atop the continent were those from the other three sacred grounds. Thus, unless they met someone from one of the other three sacred grounds, they wouldn’t retract their arrogance even the slightest bit.
The Four Great Sacred Grounds were the ruling figures within the Profound Sky Continent. It was a position they had held onto for tens of thousands of years without the slightest bit of weakness.
Yun Che didn’t bother to reply and directly took out his Sea God Jade. Right when he was about to throw it to one of the disciples, a familiar voice bearing extreme joy suddenly emanated over from behind as it breezed over with the wind.
“Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law!”
Yun Che and Feng Xue’er simultaneously turned around. Yuanba was quickly flying over from the southeast in an impressive manner. Besides him, there was also an old man wearing white robes who exuded an unique demeanor… it was none other than Spiritual Master Ancient Blue who he had met so many years ago in Divine Phoenix Nation.
Xia Yuanba landed on the ground first and quickly rushed in front of Yun Che, his face full of excitement as he said, “I’m way too lucky, to be able to actually meet brother-in-law here! Hehe, I see Little Sister Xue’er also came.”
“Yuanba, how come you and your master have come alone? Where are the rest of the sanctuary’s people?” Yun Che casually asked after patting Xia Yuanba’s shoulder. Being so close to Yuanba, Yun Che could clearly feel just how much stronger Yuanba had become from their last meeting…
Moreover, it had been an extremely great increase.
The Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins… Jasmine’s so called “unparalleled Tyrannical Divine Veins”!
“Oh, the major party from the sanctuary set out two days before us. Recently, I just had another small breakthrough, so master and I left later.” Xia Yuanba chuckled as he spoke. From his tone, it was clear that he was incredibly happy to see Yun Che
“So it was like this.” Yun Che slowly nodded as he silently thought: I myself arrived nearly four days early, but Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s people actually arrived even earlier due to the Saint Emperor’s order. It seems that the Four Great Sacred Grounds are also extremely interested in this sword, huh.
After all, towards all those respected, powerful practitioners who had been stuck at the peak of the Sovereign Profound Realm for hundreds to thousands of years, the words “secrets of the Divine Profound” contained an irresistible attraction.
Upon seeing Spiritual Master Ancient Blue, the two Ocean Palace disciples no longer cared about Yun Che and Feng Xue’er, and instead quickly walked forward to greet him. The arrogance on their faces had disappeared without a trace as they saluted in an extremely respectful and humble manner. They simultaneously greeted, “Junior Ocean Palace disciples Du Changming and Gong Kaichuan greet Spiritual Master Ancient Blue.”
Spiritual Master Ancient Blue slightly flicked the whisk in his hand as he faintly smiled and nodded his hand. Afterwards, he directly moved towards Yun Che, chuckling as he said, “Little friend Yun, when we met in the past, this old one believed that you would become a dragon in the future. Today, only three short years later, you have already become a true golden scaled dragon which can look down on the heavens. Even this old one cannot help but shower you with praise, ha ha ha ha.”
“Junior Yun Che greets Senior Ancient Blue. This junior feels ashamed to be praised so highly by Senior Ancient Blue,” Yun Che respectfully greeted as a faint smile emerged on his face.
While Spiritual Master Ancient Blue spoke to Yun Che, his eyes slightly moved, sweeping over the figure of Feng Xue’er beside Yun Che. As he did so, his pupils and face momentarily stiffened. Even his footsteps had obviously paused for a moment.
The higher one’s profound energy, the longer one would live. Thus, one simply couldn’t use appearance to judge the age of a powerful profound practitioner. However, even though appearances could be kept youthful, profound practitioners with enough experience could still roughly guess a person’s age from their aura.
Using this method, Ancient Blue perceived that the girl beside Yun Che was only in her twenties. At the very least, she was definitely younger than Xia Yuanba.
However, her profound aura was actually…
Sovereign Profound Realm… eighth level!?
This greatly surprised him, but he then immediately thought of a person… and the ridiculous, unbelievable rumors which had been recently floating around.
Could it be that those rumors… were actually true?
Spiritual Master Ancient Blue’s gaze fixated on Feng Xue’er’s figure as he suddenly asked with difficulty, “This little friend, could it be that you are Divine Phoenix Sect’s Princess Snow?”
In the face of the question, Feng Xue’er courteously replied, “Junior Feng Xue’er greets Senior Ancient Blue Cang.”
“Mn.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue slowly nodded. However, the waves in his heart took much longer to suppress. He heavily sighed then said, “Ah, the younger generation will truly surpass the older one. Even after living these thousand years, it seems like I have still been a frog in a well this entire time, hoho.”
The moment Yun Che had revealed his name, the expressions of the two Supreme Ocean Palace disciples drastically changed as a great fear arose amidst their panic. The two of them looked at each other, then hurriedly walked forward towards Yun Che and saluted him while saying in a respectful tone, “So… so esteemed guest is actually the Asgard Master of Blue Wind Nation’s Frozen Cloud Asgard. Although we have eyes, just now we were unable to recognize Mount Tai and acted poorly. We hope Asgard Master Yun will be magnanimous enough to tolerate our errors.”
This huge change in attitude slightly surprised Yun Che as he waved his hand and said, “I am only but a junior. Moreover, this is Supreme Ocean Palace, so you two don’t have to be so polite with me.”
“No no,” an Ocean Palace disciple quickly shook his head, “The great Sovereign of the Seas personally stated that Asgard Master Yun was a distinguished guest of our palace, and that we should treat you with extreme respect. Just now, I…”
“Ah, understood, understood.” Yun Che flourished his hand again, “Forget about all of these useless matters, just directly take us to the teleportation formation.”
“Alright… guests, please follow us.”
At the center of the little island was a profound spatial formation which released a greenish-blue glow. Of all the various types of profound formations, profound spatial formations had the greatest rate of consumption. However, they were nonetheless extremely precious because this spatial profound formation allowed one to directly travel across a distance of fifteen hundred kilometers. In the entirety of Profound Sky Continent, there were very few of these profound spatial formations.
“Four esteemed guests, after entering this profound formation, you will be directly transported to an island called ‘Ocean Eye Isle.’ If you travel another fifty kilometers south from Ocean Eye Isle, you will arrive at the ocean palace. Great Elder is already there personally waiting to welcome you all.”
As they activated the array, the two ocean palace disciples respectfully explained everything. As for their eyes, they focused less on the figure of Spiritual Master Ancient Blue, and instead constantly stole glances at Yun Che and Xia Yuanba.
The blue light within the profound formation flickered, and suddenly, the scene before Yun Che momentarily turned into a plane of whiteness before changing into a different view of a blue ocean.
“We’ve arrived. This place must be the Ocean Eye Isle that those two disciples talked about. The ocean palace should be fifty kilometers south of here.”
Spiritual Master Ancient Blue was the first to exit the profound formation as he spoke with a chuckle. Yun Che and the other two all suddenly subconsciously looked south, their mouths simultaneously opening as similar exclamations of shock came out.
“Waah… wow!”
“Is that… Supreme Ocean Palace?” Xia Yuanba’s eyes had grown huge as he stared. This was also his first time coming to Supreme Ocean Palace.
Their eyes were all stuck on a circular island veiled by a cover of light blue light which filled the entire airspace south of them. Unlike other ordinary islands which floated atop the ocean, this island… floated in the sky, high above the ocean!
From their point of view, the giant palace was around three to four thousand meters above the ocean!
“My royal father once said that Supreme Ocean Palace is eternally floating in the sky… to think that it was so mystical,” Feng Xue’er mumbled softly.
“…To continuously keep such a large island afloat in the sky, must be very expensive,” Yun Che said as he looked south.
“Hehe, naturally.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue nodded and then said with a chuckle, “From north to south, this floating island is forty five kilometers long. From east to west, it is thirty five kilometers long. Although this floating island is the smallest amongst the Four Great Sacred Grounds and is even smaller than Divine Phoenix Sect’s Divine Phoenix City, its magnificence and aura are unparalleled under the heavens. Moreover, the number of profound crystals spent every year to keep it afloat is astronomical.”
“Big Brother Yun, let’s hurry and go. I really want to see what Supreme Ocean Palace looks like. Even just looking at it from afar has already caused me to feel that it is much more magnificent than what my royal father said about it.” Feng Xue’er very naturally grabbed Yun Che’s arm as her cheeks became flushed pink from the excitement.
“I am also interested now. Let’s go!” Extending his arms, Yun Che wrapped them around Feng Xue’er’s thin waist as the two simultaneously flew into the sky and directly towards the mystical floating island.
“Hey, hey, wait for me brother-in-law!” Xia Yuanba jumped, suddenly traversing hundreds of meters as he quickly caught up with Yun Che.
“Hoho,” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue warmly laughed as he followed closely behind the three. As he watched their backs, the smile on his face slowly disappeared and became replaced by an increasingly complicated expression.
This was because the three youths in front of him were impressively the three most talented youths of the young generation within the Profound Sky Continent!
Furthermore, each one had abilities which were truly able to shock the world, surpassing the ancients and amazing the current generations.
Xia Yuanba’s body contained the Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins. These veins that he had been naturally born with had contained a great power which even he himself couldn’t control. However, now that he had awoken them, the degree of growth of his profound strength had shocked even the Saint Emperor of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary… his Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins were even many times more powerful than any of the previous instances of Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins recorded in the history of the Profound Sky Continent!
If Xia Yuanba could enter the sixth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm before he turned twenty two, he would be making history within the Profound Sky Continent.
Others thought that becoming the disciple of Ancient Blue would be the fortune of a lifetime. However, Spiritual Master Ancient Blue had always deeply felt that having obtained such a talented Xia Yuanba as his disciple was his life’s greatest fortune.
However, today, Feng Xue’er had appeared. She had yet to reach the age of twenty, yet she had already reached the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm! Xia Yuanba had actually been thoroughly defeated by her.
At least, it was like that for now.
However, the most shocking figure amongst the young generation was neither of those two, but instead… Yun Che!
Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue’er both had the terrifying talent and profound energy to break history. As for Yun Che… with profound strength at the Emperor Profound Realm, he was yet able to display power comparable to a Sovereign Profound Realm practitioner. This was something which none of the peak practitioners were able to understand.
If one’s talent or profound art was was high enough, it was normal for one to crush those of the same level and challenge those levels above them.
However, throughout the entire history of the Profound Sky Continent, forget about an Emperor Profound being equal to a Sovereign Profound, even a Tyrant Profound being equal to a Sovereign Profound was unheard of.
What Spiritual Master Ancient Blue took to heart the most though was that whether it be Xia Yuanba or Feng Xue’er, these two future ruling figures of the Profound Sky Continent all had deep relations with and feelings for Yun Che. Needless to say, Ancient Blue knew Xia Yuanba’s reasons very clearly. Even if Xia Yuanba were to use his life to save Yun Che, Ancient Blue wouldn’t furrow his brow.
As for Feng Xue’er, this young girl who caused his heart and mind to be shocked to the point of turmoil, had an extremely intimate relation with Yun Che. Within her eyes, one could see a feeling of attachment which had already become a kind of habit.
The history in which the Four Great Sacred Lands had ruled over the continent… was it about to finally come to an end?
“Haah…” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue let out a long sigh, then opened his mouth and said, “Little friend Yun, I wonder if your respected master is interested in watching this Devil Sword Conference?”
Towards the Four Great Sacred Grounds, the name of Yun Che’s master, “Old Man Duotian”, was undoubtedly the name which astonished them the most.
Without an ounce of hesitation, Yun Che directly replied, “Master has long since been a person who doesn’t care about the mortal world. He already almost never sets foot into the mortal world as he doesn’t want to be bound by any responsibilities. Thus, although this junior is his disciple, I don’t know where my master is currently nor where he will go next. Only when this junior cannot help but beg will his master reveal himself.”
Yun Che’s response was quite clever and was something that he had thought of long before he had arrived. This was because upon arriving at Supreme Ocean Palace, he knew that there would definitely be people asking this question.
“I see.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue nodded.
“Senior Ancient Blue, when the people of Supreme Ocean Palace want to travel to the mainland, wouldn’t they all have to go through this teleportation profound formation we just went through?” In order to prevent Ancient Blue from asking too much and possibly finding a flaw in his response, Yun Che took the opportunity to ask a useless question he didn’t care about first.
“That’s not the case.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue then replied, “Very few of Supreme Ocean Palace’s people leave the ocean. However, when they do leave, it is through flying. In fact, it’s very possible that this teleportation profound formation was just temporarily built for for this Devil Sword Conference. After all, since the consumption of a spatial profound formation is so great, I’m afraid even the Supreme Ocean Palace is not able to maintain one.”
Seemingly seeing through Yun Che’s intentions, Spiritual Master Ancient Blue faintly chuckled. Still, he no longer asked Yun Che any questions about his master.
“Earlier, the two ocean palace disciples stated that the person welcoming guests was their Great Elder. The importance of this Devil Sword Conference for Supreme Ocean Palace must be extremely great if they are actually having their Great Elder personally welcome guests. To be a Great Elder of a sacred ground, his power and status must be only second to the Sovereign of the Seas within Supreme Ocean Palace,” Yun Che said after pondering.
“Supreme Ocean Palace’s Great Elder is called Mo Chenfeng.” Xia Yuanba continued, “However, within Supreme Ocean Palace, he isn’t necessarily second to only the Sovereign of the Seas as in Supreme Ocean palace, there are also the Seven Venerable Ones above him. They are the true seven strongest people of the Supreme Ocean Palace other than the Sovereign of the Seas.”
“Seven… Venerable Ones?” Yun Che turned around in astonishment.
“Within the Four Great Sacred Grounds, Elders aren’t necessarily the highest level of power. In Supreme Ocean Palace, there are still the Seven Venerable Ones above the Elders. Meanwhile, there are the Five Divine Envoys in Sun Moon Divine Hall and the Three Sword Attendants in Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. Our Absolute Monarch Sanctuary is the same. Above the Elders are the Twelve Spiritual Masters,” Xia Yuanba explained with great detail.
Chapter 768 - Summoned by the Sovereign of the Seas
Supreme Ocean Palace’s Seven Venerable Ones, Sun Moon Divine Hall’s Five Divine Envoys, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region’s Three Sword Attendants, and Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s Twelve Spiritual Masters… these were existences within the Four Great Sacred Grounds who were even higher than elders!
“…That year in Divine Phoenix City, I heard many people call Senior Ancient Blue ‘Spiritual Master’ so I believed that it was a special title for anyone who came from Absolute Monarch Sanctuary. But if it’s like you said, then that means Senior Ancient Blue is one of those Twelve Spiritual Masters?” Yun Che asked. His heart began to beat harder and harder… that year in Divine Phoenix City, he had already guessed that Ancient Blue’s status in Absolute Monarch Sanctuary was not low because of the way Feng Hengkong and the others treated him. Even the proud and arrogant Ye Xinghan and eccentric Ji Qianrou acted respectfully in his presence and didn’t dare act rashly. Moreover, Absolute Monarch Sanctuary had shown that they held Xia Yuanba in high regard because of the Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins in his body. In fact, there were even signs that he could possibly become the next Saint Master as his cultivation had always been guided by Ancient Blue and his strength and status were enough.
But now, he knew that the two words “Spiritual Master” in Ancient Blue’s title were actually amazing!
“That’s right, that’s right!” Xia Yuanba quickly nodded, “My master is one of the Twelve Spiritual Masters. He is ranked fifth amongst the twelve.”
“So it was like this.” Yun Che slowly nodded. Not only was Ancient Blue a Spiritual Master of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, he was ranked fifth…
This was to say, Spiritual Master Ancient Blue was ranked sixth within the entire Absolute Monarch Sanctuary! He was even more frightening than Yun Che had expected.
An odd glow silently appeared in Yun Che’s eyes as he looked back at Spiritual Master Ancient Blue in the distance. He whispered, “Yuanba, I have never asked you before, but just what is your master’s profound cultivation level?”
“Ninth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm,” Xia Yuanba replied without hesitation. Then, he patted his chest as he continued, “In the past, I felt master was extremely powerful, but if I’m given another ten years, I will definitely surpass him, hehehe.”
Spiritual Master Ancient Blue slightly shook his head behind them as he lightly smiled, his face showing a mixed expression of exasperation and pride.
For a master, having a disciple surpass them was a matter of great comfort and even pride. However, after living a thousand years and having reached a profound energy level which was enough to stand at the pinnacle of the world, it had become increasingly difficult for him to accomplish this matter… However, Xia Yuanba, the freak that he was, had only needed a short few years of time to rise from a weakling in the Elementary Profound Realm to where he was today in the Sovereign Profound Realm. Moreover, even now, he still had a rate of growth which shocked even the Saint Emperor.
For Yuanba to surpass Ancient Blue, it might not even take ten years. At that time, he might not have even reached thirty years old.
To be surpassed by a twenty some year old disciple as a thousand year old master, how could he not feel exasperated?
“Your master is actually so powerful. Are the rest of the twelve as strong as your master?” Yun Che asked.
To ask about the inner workings of a force, especially anything relating to how power was structured at the top of a force, was extremely avoided… this was also true for Absolute Monarch Sanctuary and the Four Great Sacred Grounds. However, Xia Yuanba didn’t have any qualms at all about Yun Che so he directly answered without thinking, “The Twelve Spiritual Masters are strictly ordered in terms of strength. The most powerful, Spiritual Master Bitter Pain, Spiritual Master Nine Lamentations, and Spiritual Master Detached Heart, are all mighty and powerful level ten Monarchs!”
“Level ten Monarchs?” A thought congealed in Yun Che’s mind… a level ten Monarch, the peak of the Sovereign Profound Realm and the pinnacle of strength which can be reached by a human atop the Profound Sky Continent!
In the current Illusory Demon Realm, the only person to have reached this level other than Little Demon Empress was Duke Ming!
Yet Absolute Monarch Sanctuary actually had three!
No, adding in the Saint Emperor, they had four!!
“Of the remaining nine Spiritual Masters, there are five ninth level Sovereign Profound Realm practitioners and four late stage eighth level Sovereign Profound Realm practitioners. As for the elders, the strongest is also at the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm.” Xia Yuanba continued.
“…” Frankly speaking, Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s strength had far surpassed Yun Che’s expectations and caused great waves in his heart. The terror of a force was absolutely not something which normal people could guess at. If not for Xia Yuanba, even Yun Che wouldn’t have been able to figure out that Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s strength had reached this point so easily. After thinking a while, Yun Che said, “So you’re saying that in order to be higher than an elder, one has to at least have the strength of late stage eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm. Also, of this kind of peerlessly powerful practitioner, your Absolute Monarch Sanctuary has twelve, Supreme Ocean Palace has seven, Sun Moon Divine Hall has five, and Mighty Heavenly Sword Region has three… Although Absolute Monarch Sanctuary is far far ahead of the other three sacred grounds in terms of strength, all four grounds are indeed worthy of their title as the Four Great Sacred Grounds.”
“It’s not quite as you think,” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue’s voice emanated over from behind them as he said in a gentle voice, “Spiritual Masters, Venerable Ones, Divine Envoys, and Sword Attendants are respectively the strongest twelve, seven, five, and three people of their sacred ground. However, these four entities are all independent of each other, thus the standard of strength of each entity is different.”
“Among Supreme Ocean Palace’s Seven Venerable Ones, two of them are at the tenth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, and the other five are all at the ninth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm. Great Elder Mo Chenfeng who was brought up earlier is at the late stage eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, and is the strongest practitioner among Supreme Ocean Palace’s forty eight elders.”
“Among Sun Moon Divine Hall’s Divine Envoys, the strongest two are also at the tenth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm. The latter three are all level nine Monarchs. The strength of its most powerful great elder is similar to that of Mo Chenfeng. Just according to the number of top level powerhouses, Sun Moon Divine Hall is weaker than Supreme Ocean Palace.”
“As for the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region… although they have the fewest number of high level Sovereigns, as well as Sovereigns in general, among the Four Great Sacred Grounds, their “Three Sword Attendants” are all at the tenth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm. In terms of strength, they are stronger than Supreme Ocean Palace and Sun Moon Divine Hall, and are equal to my Absolute Monarch Sanctuary.”
“…So it’s like this. I thank Senior Ancient Blue for openly enlightening me,” Yun Che said, turning around.
“Haha,” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue slowly shook his head and then quietly sighed, saying, “It’s rumored that your respected master has already obtained world-defying power. I’m afraid that we are nothing but insignificant clouds floating in the sky.”
“Where are Senior Ancient Blue’s words coming from?” Yun Che casually threw out a random thought as his heart sank a bit.
Within the Four Great Sacred Grounds, there was actually as many as fourteen people who had reached the peak of the Sovereign Profound Realm, and the tenth level at that! Moreover, it was likely that the leaders of the four sacred grounds had also reached the late stage of the tenth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm! They were definitely all no weaker than Duke Ming… if they weren’t already much much stronger in the first place.
As for those at the ninth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, there were more than twenty of them!
Meanwhile, the Twelve Guardian Families in the Illusory Demon Realm, which were comparable to the top forces of the Profound Sky Continent, didn’t have single level ten Monarch! They only had three level nine Monarchs! Within the Yun and Mu families, which he was most familiar with… the Mu Family’s most powerful practitioner was his uncle, Mu Feiyan, who was a level eight Monarch. As for the Yun Family, which had withered for a century, their strongest practitioner was only at the seventh level of the Sovereign Profound Realm.
Yun Che had long since realized that the Profound Sky Continent’s level of profound strength was greater than the Illusory Demon Realm’s. This was why the Four Sacred Grounds had been able to pressure the Twelve Guardian Families even within the Illusory Demon Realm and the Twelve Guardian Families didn’t dare take a step into the Profound Sky Continent.
These four forces which had legacies of tens of thousands of years and were titled “Sacred Grounds” were truly terrifying existences.
As they came increasingly close to the floating Ocean Palace, Yun Che asked Ancient Blue, “Senior Ancient Blue, I wonder if you have any understandings about the ‘Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’?”
“Moon Slaughter Devil Nest? What kind of place is that?” Xia Yuanba leaned over, his face full of curiosity.
“…” A trace of shock flickered across Spiritual Master Ancient Blue’s face. It was clear that he was surprised that Yun Che, who had never before come to Supreme Ocean Palace, actually knew this name. He prudently stared at Yun Che for a moment before slowly saying, “You actually know of the ‘Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’. In that case, you should also know why Supreme Ocean Palace perennially resides atop this blue ocean. However, outside of that, even I do not know much about the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. To us mortals, that place is an extremely taboo existence. You absolutely must not develop any curiosity towards it.”
“Why is that?” Yun Che furrowed his brows.
“Because it has existed for tens of thousands of years, but the enigma behind it still has yet to be unlocked.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue’s voice contained traces of seriousness as he continued, “Things which are unknown are often filled with unknown dangers. The longer an enigma remains unsolved, the more likely the dangers within are greater. This name ‘Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’, you should treat it as a false legend. Don’t try to get to the bottom of it… don’t even go close to it so as to avoid going beyond redemption.”
By the time Spiritual Master Ancient Blue finished speaking, Supreme Ocean Palace was already right in front of their eyes. He suddenly flailed his whisk, and immediately, a gentle wind surged from below, causing the four of them to quickly float forward, “We’ve arrived… let’s go in.”
As their bodies passed through a layer of light blue colored profound light, Yun Che brought along Feng Xue’er and gently descended atop the floating isle atop the blue ocean.
The very moment they entered Supreme Ocean Palace, the atmosphere surrounding them completely changed. Not the slightest trace of the ocean’s scent could be smelled, and the ocean breeze had completely disappeared… It was as if they had suddenly left an ocean world and entered into an independent, completely different world.
Below their feet were great numbers of profound jade, each of which released a faint, cold light. They were all priceless. Looking out into the distance, towers, halls, and courtyards of varying sizes mixed with a widespread amount of flourishing flora. Moreover, an unbelievably dense profound energy, which was filled with several times more vitality than usual, enshrouded the entire ocean palace.
This place was completely unlike an island, and even less like a “palace”. Instead, it was a magnificently luxurious city in the air!
“Such dense profound energy.” Jasmine’s voice transmitted into Yun Che’s mind, “Almost all of the Profound Sky Continent’s Monarchs have gathered here. It is really interesting.”
Yun Che, “…”
As the group of four expressed their astonishment towards the floating city, another figure appeared in the sky. In the blink of an eye, the figure arrived in front of them.
The figure was a pale white, short and fat old practitioner with a respectful expression. His speed was shockingly fast that not even Yun Che knew when he appeared in front of them.
The white old practitioner cupped his hands towards Spiritual Master Ancient Blue, a faint smile appearing on his face as he said, “So it was Spiritual Master Ancient Blue. Shu Chenfeng is busy with various tasks, so he is unable to welcome you.”
“Old Mo, it’s been a long time.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue lightly chuckled and nodded his head.
“This person should be Supreme Ocean Palace’s Great Elder Mo Chenfeng,” Xia Yuanba whispered by Yun Che’s ear.
Mo Chenfeng then turned to looked at Xia Yuanba. His face suddenly showed shock, “Now that I think of it, this fellow should be the famous one who has shocked the world with his Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins, Xia Yuanba, right? To have such a level of cultivation at such a young age, you are truly an unmatched divine figure who causes people to lament. The Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins have been recorded to have appeared several times on the Profound Sky Continent, but none of them have ever been taken as disciples. For Absolute Monarch Sanctuary to have been able to accept you, it is truly enviable.”
“Hoho,” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue lightly chuckled, but didn’t express an opinion.
Mo Chenfeng’s eyes then landed on Feng Xue’er’s figure. Right when he was about to open his mouth, his entire body suddenly quivered and his pupils fiercely contracted.
As even Spiritual Master Ancient Blue, with his thousand years of experiences, had been astonished upon seeing Feng Xue’er earlier, how could Mo Chenfeng fare any better?
Just now, Mo Chenfeng had showered Xia Yuanba in praise, calling him an “unmatched divine figure who caused people to lament.” However, the moment his spirit touched Feng Xue’er, he realized that she was even younger than Xia Yuanba, yet her profound strength had actually reached the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm.
She was at the same level of strength as himself, the Great Elder of Supreme Ocean Palace!
“Young lady… could you perhaps be Divine Phoenix Sect’s Princess Snow?” Mo Chenfeng asked, his voice cracking in a very obvious manner. As he questioned Feng Xue’er, his pair of hands subconsciously cupped together… as Supreme Ocean Palace’s Great Elder, he had a large amount of presence even in the Four Great Sacred Grounds. Thus, those who were qualified to be saluted by him within the Profound Sky Continent were quite rare, yet facing Feng Xue’er, he subconsciously entered a respectful state.
This was the respect shown to powerful practitioners by other profound practitioners. Although the two were both at the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, his age was a full fifty times Feng Xue’er’s age! Just because of this fact, he simply didn’t consider his cultivation to be on the same level as Feng Xue’er’s. There was a world of difference between them.
“Junior Feng Xue’er greets Great Elder Mo.” Feng Xue’er politely saluted.
Mo Chenfeng opened his mouth, but was unable to reply for the moment. Then, he suddenly realized that if this abnormally powerful girl was Feng Xue’er, the person beside her should be…
“Then… this young friend, are you Blue Wind Empire’s Frozen Cloud Asgard Master Yun Che?” Mo Chenfeng asked Yun Che, turning to face him. When the four of them had first arrived, he had only paid attention to Spiritual Master Ancient Blue’s aura. He had never thought that Yun Che, the person he had waited for so long for would arrive together with Spiritual Master Ancient Blue.
“This junior is indeed Yun Che, I greet Great Elder Mo.” Yun Che slightly nodded his head.
“…” Mo Chenfeng quietly took a big breath, then sighed and said, “Blue Wind Empire’s Frozen Cloud Asgard Master Yun, Divine Phoenix Sect’s Princess Snow, Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s Xia Yuanba, you three are the three most stunning figures in the young generation. For you all to have arrived at the same time, it has really surprised me.”
“Just now, I was quite rude, please enter!”
Under Mo Chenfeng’s personal guidance, the four walked into the ocean palace. Mo Chenfeng’s gaze constantly swept across the three youths as he incessantly sighed in his heart, “Of these three, one belongs to the Blue Wind Empire, one belongs to Divine Phoenix Sect. As for the latter, Xia Yuanba, it’s uncertain if his birthplace is Absolute Monarch Sanctuary.”
“Could the era of the Four Great Sacred Grounds… actually be about to meet its end?”
As thoughts flashed through his mind, he ended up with the same thought Ancient Blue had when he saw the three together.
Mo Chenfeng took out a light blue jadestone and his lips slightly moved. Clearly, he was sending a message to someone far away.
“Old Mo, the profound energy within the ocean palace is so thick, it’s something I’ve never experienced before. Although there are still several days till the Sword Conference begins, many of the invited have already arrived, right?” asked Spiritual Master Ancient Blue.
Mo Chenfeng slowly nodded his head, “You’re right. It seems many profound practitioners are fascinated by the secrets of the ‘Devil Sword’.”
Yun Che silently sneered… Your Four Great Sacred Grounds are most fascinating! As for the other forces… Heh, who would have to courage to dare to refuse the “invitation” of the Four Sacred Grounds.
Mo Chenfeng turned and said to Feng Xue’er, “Princess Snow, Divine Phoenix Sect sent your respected father over this time, and he has been here for several days already. He is currently residing in the Flame Heart Palace in front of us. I wonder… ha ha, I wonder if Princess Snow wants to also reside in Flame Heart Palace, or if she wants to reside with little friend Yun?”
“I definitely want to live together with Big Brother Yun.” Feng Xue’er replied without hesitation… moreover, she clearly didn’t realize any of the implications. This was because she wasn’t the slightest bit interested in the Devil Sword Conference. Her reason for coming here with Yun Che this time was to protect him, and naturally to live together with him.
“Then, it shall be as Princess Snow wishes.” Mo Chenfeng nodded. At this time, the blue jadestone in his hand shimmered, causing him to stop in his steps and turn towards Yun Che, “Little friend Yun, the Sovereign of the Seas told me a few days ago to notify her of your arrival right away. Just now, upon learning of your arrival ocean palace, the sovereign immediately dropped all the matters currently at hand and requested that I bring you over, no matter how.”
“The Sovereign of the Seas is already waiting for us at the Ocean Imperial Palace in front of us. Before going to your residence, please come meet the Sovereign of the Seas with me.”
“My pleasure.” Yun Che naturally had no reason to decline.
For him to enter the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, he first had to gain the agreement of Supreme Ocean Palace’s Sovereign of the Seas.
Chapter 769 - Ocean Palace’s Sacred Master
“Lan Zi, Lan Shen, bring these two esteemed guests from Absolute Monarch Sanctuary to Divine Ocean Palace. Also, make sure you personally accommodate them, they must not be neglected.”
Heeding Mo Chenfeng’s summons, two female ocean palace disciples approached and deeply bowed, “As you wish, Great Elder… two esteemed guests, this way please.”
“Why does the Sovereign of the Seas want to meet my brother-in-law?” Amidst Xia Yuanba’s curiosity, there was also a trace of apprehension… after all the Sovereign of the Seas was the leader of one of the Four Great Sacred Grounds of Profound Sky Continent. She was someone who was on the same level as the Saint Emperor!
“Since the Sovereign of the Seas personally summoned him, you shouldn’t ask too much.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue grabbed Xia Yuanba’s shoulders, continuing, “Relax, nothing bad will happen to him. It’s even less likely he will encounter any danger.” He then turned his eyes away to gaze profoundly at Yun Che, “To get the Sovereign of the Seas to want to meet him so badly… and he’s a junior at that. This must be a first in the history of the Ocean Palace.”
“Brother-in-law, then… then I will leave first to go to the Saint Emperor’s side. You must make sure to stay safe. If anything happens, you must notify me as soon as possible.”
As he said those words, Xia Yuanba was half dragged away by Spiritual Master Ancient Blue.
“Hoho, I heard long ago that Asgard Master Yun’s relationship with Xia Yuanba was very good, even better than blood relatives though you are not. It seems it is indeed true.” Mo Chenfeng said with a light chuckle. However, his mind had been suddenly thrown into disarray… in the future, these two would both become figures who would shake the world, yet their relationship was like that of true blood brothers. For the sacred grounds, which had ruled the world for ten thousand years, this was definitely not a good thing.
“Princess Snow, Ocean Imperial Palace is the most sacred ground of my ocean palace. Without being invited by the Sovereign of the Seas, no one can enter. Just now, the Sovereign of the Seas only allowed this old one to bring Asgard Master Yun in. Currently, this old one is arranging for several disciples to bring Princess Snow to her residence, is that alright? Princess Snow, if you want, you may go meet your family in Flame Heart Palace first.”
Mo Chenfeng’s mind was set, but facing Feng Xue’er, he couldn’t help but subconsciously show a respectful attitude. Feng Xue’er’s profound strength was just too shocking.
“I don’t want to.” Feng Xue’er shook her head as both hands grabbed onto Yun Che’s arm with no intention of letting go, “If I cannot go in, then I will just wait outside for Big Brother Yun.”
“That is also fine,” Mo Chenfeng nodded, but his heart had tightened fiercely just now.
This Yun Che, just what kind of monster was he… his own talent was already terrifying, and he had a heaven defying master behind him as well. Moreover, of the two most talented and shocking figures among the young generation, one held him as a relative while the other had deep feelings for him…
Currently, the three of them were all around twenty years of age, which made it all the more shocking. If they were given another hundred years… no, with their rate of growth, they wouldn’t even need a hundred years. By that time, even the Four Great Sacred Grounds would all need to bow before them.
Mo Chenfeng secretly took a deep breath, then out walked in front, “Please follow me.”
As they walked further into the depths of Supreme Ocean Palace, the profound energy became increasingly thicker. Currently almost all of the high level experts of Profound Sky Continent had congregated within Supreme Ocean Palace, yet the entire ocean palace was extremely quiet. There was no clamor. In fact, during their whole journey, they hadn’t met any practitioners outside of the stationed ocean palace disciples.
This wasn’t a surprise at all to Yun Che. In the past, the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament and Seven Nation Ranking Tournament had all been extremely boisterous due to the crowding together of so many practitioners but there was one difference between those tournaments and this conference… this one was in Supreme Ocean Palace! It was held in one of the places considered sacred in the hearts of profound practitioners! Other than the other three sacred grounds, the forces which had come after receiving invitations were too overwhelmed with with honor and fear to act otherwise. To set foot in a legendary sacred ground, each step was startling and uneasy. Even if one had great courage, they would still only quietly live in the residence arranged for them. One would absolutely never dare to raucously run around.
The profound practitioners who were able to be invited were all renowned powerful experts and hegemons. However, upon arriving at Supreme Ocean Palace, they were all like civilians who had entered a royal palace. The atmosphere made them too timid to even breathe heavily.
As they walked, Mo Chenfeng no longer spoke with Yun Che. Instead, his footsteps became faster and faster. However, Yun Che and Feng Xue’er effortlessly kept up. At this time, a vague figure appeared in Yun Che’s vision.
This person was roughly three feet tall and was completely clad in pitch-black clothes. Furthermore, they also wore a dilapidated cloak which was too large for them, the upper part covering their entire face while the lower part dragged along the ground beside their feet.
This was the very first profound practitioner Yun Che had seen after entering Supreme Ocean Palace who wasn’t associated with the ocean palace. He was certain because the aura emanating off this person’s body was completely different from the ones emanating off the bodies of the ocean palace disciples he had met earlier. Moreover, the person’s profound energy aura was only at the third level of the Emperor Profound Realm.
This person walked across the faintly flashing blue ground at a pace that wasn’t fast or slow, making it hard to immediately discern if it was truly a person walking regardless of the angle. Within the quiet, open ocean palace that contained profound energy so thick it had become heavy, this figure’s existence was particularly eye-catching… even though the figure was so far away, one could still feel an extremely strange aura emanating off of them.
Seeing this person, Yun Che’s footsteps momentarily paused as his brows furrowed.
Such a heavy poisonous aura! Under the person’s black clothes, there had to be at least two hundred or more powerful toxins hidden!
Moreover, that aura… could it be the Poison Emperor?!
Having seen Yun Che’s reaction, Mo Chenfeng turned his head and asked, “Has Asgard Master Yun perhaps met that person before?”
“I have not.” Yun Che shook his head, retracting his gaze from atop the figure of the short person covered in black clothes, “I was only curious. I heard that this Devil Sword Conference only invited Overlord and Sovereign level practitioners, yet that person’s profound strength is only at the third level of the Emperor Profound Realm and they were still invited. Furthermore, based on their appearance and indiscreet behavior in Supreme Ocean Palace… I believe that they should be quite an unusual figure.”
“That person is indeed unusual.” Mo Chenfeng whispered, “He comes from Black Fiend Nation. Although his profound strength is only at the Emperor Profound Realm, he is as strong as an Overlord if not as strong as a Sovereign. Facing him, many would quickly retreat to avoid conflict as this person is quite infamous in Black Fiend Nation, where he is fearfully compared to a viper. Perhaps Asgard Master Yun too will have heard of his name.”
“Toxin Immortal!”
“Oh…” Yun Che let out a exclamation. This was the first time he had heard this name.
“I’ve heard this name before from my royal father.” Feng Xue’er opened her mouth and said, “In the past, royal father once told me about the most terrifying figures within the Profound Sky Continent, he mentioned the ‘Toxin Immortal’ and said that this person was the most powerful poison user within the Profound Sky Continent… especially his personally crafted poisons. Upon being poisoned, there is no one who can save you from them.”
“Right.” Mo Chenfeng nodded. Although he was the Great Elder of Supreme Ocean Palace, even he still knew of this person, showing just how terrifying this person was, “He has countless enemies including several Overlords and Sovereigns yet he has still survived to this day with his level of profound strength. Clearly the strength of his poisons is no small matter. However, this fellow wasn’t invited by my ocean palace.”
“Oh?” Yun Che perplexedly asked.
“He was invited by Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. They intend to borrow his ability for some matter or another. Perhaps we will find out when the Devil Sword Conference begins.”
“We have reached Ocean Imperial Palace.” Mo Chenfeng stopped and turned around, “Princess Snow, I will trouble you to wait here. Asgard Master Yun, please follow me.”
“Big Brother Yun, I will wait for you here… you must be careful,” Feng Xue’er gently said, stopping.
“Relax, I’ll be back before you know it.”
Ocean Imperial Palace was situated in the exact center of Supreme Ocean Palace. In a sense, it was the core of the entire ocean palace and was a symbol of the palace’s ten thousand years of prestige and glory.
The appearance of the Ocean Imperial Palace was not much different from all of the other palace halls Yun Che had passed during his walk here. However, the moment he entered the vicinity of Ocean Imperial Palace, his mind and senses simultaneously became unsettled… in that instant, he felt as if he had left the mortal world and stepped into a heavenly palace. A deep feeling of reverence spontaneously emerged within the depths of his heart, causing him to suddenly feel the desire to kneel in worship. His originally extremely perceptive spiritual sense became hazy as even his vision began to blur.
Yun Che’s dazed state was only for a very brief moment while he was in shock. Afterwards, he quickly concentrated his mind. Because of his body’s Dragon God Soul, his soul power had reached an extremely high level. Thus, his five senses were quickly restored to their normal states.
“Below this Ocean Imperial Palace, there is indeed a strange profound formation. If one’s profound strength or soul power isn’t enough, I’m afraid one would fall to their knees upon entering,” Jasmine suddenly said in a cold tone.
Arriving at the door to the Ocean Imperial Palace, Mo Chenfeng turned around and looked at Yun Che, only to discover that Yun Che’s eyes were both clear. Moreover, his demeanor was still composed, and his footsteps were still smooth. Not the slightest trace of fear or anxiety was apparent on his face. He was instead leisurely appreciating the surrounding scenery.
An expression of deep shock flashed through Mo Chenfeng’s pupils. The entire Ocean Imperial Palace was enveloped within a giant profound formation. Furthermore, this giant profound formation, called the “Oceanus Shroud Formation,” was the most powerful profound formation within Supreme Ocean Palace. Upon entering the formation, one would become subject to extreme pressure as if one was facing a true god. Those under the level of Sovereign would feel their bodies become weak upon entering the formation and begin to shiver. Those under the level of Overlord would immediately collapse to the ground and kneel, becoming completely incapable of walking.
Even Mo Chenfeng himself, eighth level Sovereign that he was, would feel his heart continuously palpitate in fear every time he entered Ocean Imperial Palace.
He had originally believed that Yun Che, even with his own abnormal talent, would at least experience unsteady steps, a pale face, and cold sweats upon entering the “Oceanus Shroud Formation” for the first time without preparation… he had never thought that Yun Che’s face would be so leisurely and composed, as if he weren’t affected at all by the “Oceanus Shroud Formation.”
Just… just how could this be? Could Yun Che’s mental strength actually be higher than his own?
Mo Chenfeng thought in shock.
The great doors were pushed open, and the two entered with Mo Chenfeng lowering his head as he entered. After taking three steps, Mo Chenfeng had already stooped down in a bow, “Reporting to the Sovereign of the Seas, Blue Wind Empire’s Asgard Master Yun Che has been brought over.”
After Mo Chenfeng entered the Ocean Imperial Palace, he had constantly kept his head down. Yun Che then immediately moved towards the figure in the middle of the giant palace.
The Sovereign of the Seas stood there with their back facing them. Their figure was exquisitely slender, and they wore a long palace robe which was sparkling with a blue glow. The highest collar of their robe directly reached their hair which was in the shape of a top knot.
This back figure caused Yun Che to momentarily stop in astonishment.
A… female?
The Sovereign of the Seas was a… woman?
“You may withdraw.”
The Sovereign of the Seas spoke. Their voice was like that of a middle aged woman’s, very gentle, but each word was like a heaven shaking bell, majestic and full of power.
“Yes.” Mo Chenfeng withdrew and closed the great doors of the Ocean Imperial Palace.
“Junior Yun Che greets Senior Sovereign.” Yun Che took a step forward and respectfully saluted as he acted in a dignified manner. After all, the person in front of him was the leader of one sacred grounds which had lorded over the Profound Sky Continent for ten thousand years! She was one of the peerlessly strong practitioners who stood at the peak of the Profound Sky Continent, and was the first leader of a sacred ground that Yun Che had met!
Only, Yun Che had never imagined that the Sovereign of the Seas, one of the four sacred masters, would actually be a female!
The Sovereign of the Seas slowly turned around, exposing her true appearance to Yun Che. She had the appearance of a middle aged woman, but without the slightest trace of femininity. Instead, each contour contained an extremely solemn dignity and sharpness.
Her eyes were extremely clear, and her pupils were as profound as the ocean. Within her eyes, there was a trace of emotion trickling around. The awkward oppressive silence lasted for a full ten breaths before she finally spoke. She slowly nodded, “Seeing is indeed better than hearing from others. Even while standing in front of this sovereign within the ‘Oceanus Shroud Formation,’ your eyes are still as clear as a mirror, your heart still as sturdy as a rock. This sovereign had always believed that the rumors surrounding you were over exaggerated, but meeting you now, you are even better than the rumors! No wonder ‘that person’ has such a high opinion of you.”
Yun Che didn’t bother asking who the ‘person’ she spoke about was, and instead faintly smiled as he replied, “This junior doesn’t dare receive the Sovereign of the Seas’ praise. This junior only came to Supreme Ocean Palace to participate in the Devil Sword Conference and enter Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. I wish for Senior Sovereign’s consent.”
“Asgard Master Yun is truly straightforward.” The Sovereign of the Seas’ eyes furrowed as she slowly walked forward. Every step closer she got, the stronger the pressure enveloping Yun Che’s body became. “This sovereign had wished to converse with you for quite a while, but it seems like Asgard Master Yun has no interest in this.”
“To be able to meet Senior Sovereign is already this junior’s greatest fortune. Senior is the leader of Supreme Ocean Palace, and is a powerful overlord under the heavens. Each breath of your time is as valuable as ten thousand jin of gold. How could this junior dare delay you?” Yun Che replied in a manner which was neither humble nor arrogant.
“Is that so?” The Sovereign of the Seas reached a point three steps in front of Yun Che and stopped. She was impressively half a head taller than Yun Che. “The reason for why you want to enter the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest is already known by this sovereign. However, this sovereign is very curious about why you are willing to pay such a cost to pick a Netherworld Udumbara Flower. From what this sovereign knows, the Netherworld Udumbara Flower is an extremely evil and vile thing. Even if a Sovereign nears it, just a simple mental attack will result in death. Outside of using it for murder in a traceless manner, I’ve never heard of any other uses for it.”
Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Yun Che sincerely said, “The Netherworld Udumbara Flower is needed by my master. Truthfully, this matter should not have been told to others, but since it’s requested by Senior Sovereign, this junior will naturally tell.”
The Netherworld Udumbara Flower was something Jasmine needed, and Jasmine was indeed his master. Thus his words were justified and true. There was no way for the Sovereign of the Seas to find any trace of lies.
“Your master?” The Sovereign of the Seas’ eyes narrowed, “This sovereign heard that your respected master has heaven defying abilities, an ability to turn a Sovereign to ashes just by flicking his fingers. Since it’s something your master needs, why doesn’t he come pick it himself? I trust with your respected master’s ability, there is no where in this world he cannot go.”
“It’s because the task of picking this Netherworld Udumbara Flower was given to this junior by my master as a test.” Yun Che chuckled and said, “Since master has ordered it, this junior must try to complete it at all costs. These last few years, this junior has constantly been inquiring about this matter concerning the Netherworld Udumbara Flower and has finally been fortunate enough to learn that they have appeared before within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. Thus, this junior has to go in and search no matter what… this junior beseeches senior to agree.”
“So it’s like this.” The Sovereign of the Seas slowly nodded. However, the fluctuations in her eyes were still there, as if she still wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not. “While we are on this topic, where is your respected master currently? This sovereign wonders if she could have the opportunity to meet him?”
“Master has long since been a person who doesn’t care about the mortal world. He already almost never sets foot into the mortal world as he doesn’t want to be bound by any responsibilities. Thus, although this junior is his disciple, I don’t know where my master is currently nor where he will go next. Only when this junior cannot help but beg will his master reveal himself.” Yun Che repeated again the same words he had previously said to Spiritual Master Ancient Blue.
His fictional master “Old Man Duotian” had been completely accepted by the Four Great Sacred Grounds, acting as a great deterrent against them for him. Since this “master” was of great use, he would naturally do his best to maintain it.
“That is indeed unfortunate,” the Sovereign of the Seas casually replied. Suddenly she changed the topic, “Moon Slaughter Devil Nest is the most taboo place of my Supreme Ocean Palace. We don’t allow any outsiders to enter. However, Moon Slaughter Devil Nest hasn’t been opened for the last thousand and three hundred years, and it is about time for this sovereign to arrange for people to enter and check for any abnormal changes. Moreover, considering how my ocean palace has already received ten of your ‘Six Flavor Emperor Pellets’, wouldn’t it make my ocean palace’s words worthless if I rejected you?”
Yun Che’s eyes stared blankly… what? Six Flavor Emperor Pellet? What the hell was that?!
Could it refer to… the Overlord Pellet?
Holy shit! Just what kind of crappy name did Zi Ji come up with?!
Moreover… from the Sovereign of the Seas’ words just now, she had just taken initiative to completely expose the ocean palace’s relationship with Black Moon Merchant Guild!
“Thank you for your consent!” Yun Che joyously said.
“Don’t get happy too early,” the Sovereign of the Seas coldly said, “Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’s seal can only be opened once every five hundred years. Moreover, each time it is open, it is only for the extremely short period of a hundred breaths! After a hundred breaths, the passage will forcefully close and become sealed for another five hundred years. Even my Supreme Ocean Palace has no way of forcing it to open before then. This is to prevent any yin energy from leaking out into the Profound Sky Continent. As for the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, it only blooms once every twenty four years and wilts three days after blooming. For you to find a blooming Netherworld Udumbara Flower in the time of a hundred breaths is pretty much impossible. That’s not to mention the fact that we are unsure whether or not there are still Netherworld Udumbara Flowers existing in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.”
“Thus, just forget about entering the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. Even if you enter, it will just be a wasted trip.”
“This junior already knows this. However, junior still hopes that senior will allow him to try,” Yun Che said without hesitation.
“Since you are so persistent… this sovereign will allow you to enter the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. When do you want to enter?” the Sovereign of the Seas asked.
“The earlier the better!” Yun Che said after thinking for a while, “If possible, I would like to enter today.”
“Alright!” Sovereign of the Seas slowly nodded her head, “Since it’s like this, this sovereign will help you! I will arrange for someone to bring you to the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest right now!”
Chapter 770 - A Bad Bargain
“Right now?” Yun Che asked in daze. He had never thought that the Sovereign of the Seas would be a woman, and he had not expected that she would be so honest and frank regarding the huge matter of Supreme Ocean Palace’s forbidden grounds.
“The Devil Sword Conference will commence in three days. In order to prepare the profound formation that will be used during this conference, this sovereign will be even busier than usual for the next few days, and I won’t have time to worry about anything else. So if we can resolve this matter at an earlier date, this sovereign will be able to avoid a potential headache. What do you think about this arrangement?” The Sovereign of the Seas said, her face a rigid mask.
Yun Che thought about it briefly before giving an assertive nod of his head, “Great! Then let’s begin now!”
“Very good!” The Sovereign of the Seas said, after which she glanced to the side before continuing, “Zi Ji, I will task with you personally escorting Yun Che to the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest! You can embark immediately!”
“Hohoho.” A mild laugh rang out as a door on the left side of the Ocean Imperial Palace gently opened and a elegant, middle-aged man who was wearing a purple robe emerged from within. The man’s face bore a faint smile as he spoke, “Yun Che, it has only been a few short months since we last met, yet your profound strength has grown by leaps and bounds once again. This rate of growth is truly breathtaking.”
“As expected, Senior Zi is a member of Supreme Ocean Palace.” Yun Che replied, a faint smile plastered on his face, he was not the least bit surprised at Zi Ji’s sudden appearance.
Zi Ji gently nodded his head, “Given your intelligence and powers of observation, it was expected that you would have long ago come to this conclusion. It is fortunate that the Sovereign of the Seas was agreeable when it came to the matter of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, because I, Zi Ji, also owe you a personal favor over the matter of the ten medicine pellets. With this, we can consider our debt settled. Also, the request that you made the last time we met has already been completed, and I trust that you will not be disappointed with the results.”
After Zi Ji had finished speaking, he gave a flourish of his hand. Profound light flashed as two ebony wooden boxes appeared in his hands. Even though he did not know what was within the wooden boxes, but the thick and heavy aura that it released was evidence enough that these two boxes were definitely extraordinary items.
“Could this be two profound cores?” Yun Che immediately asked as his gaze grew more intense, “But I am unclear as to whether it is the profound core of a Tyrant Profound beast or a Sovereign Profound beast.”
“You will know once you’ve taken a look.” Zi Ji said with a placid smile.
Yun Che strode forward and took both the wooden boxes from Zi Ji’s hands. Instead of opening the boxes, he sent two streams of profound energy into them. Immediately, his profound energy came into contact with two incomparably strong profound energy auras that were at the level of the Sovereign Profound Realm.
Much to his astonishment, the two wooden boxes contained the profound cores of two Sovereign Profound beasts.
This is great… Yun Che thought before he kept both of the wooden boxes, “Senior Zi is indeed a man of remarkable abilities. Just as we had agreed upon that day, you have delivered two precious cores to me.”
Yun Che’s flicked a finger towards Zi Ji as he tossed two Overlord Pellets to him. Zi Ji extended a hand to catch them and he handled the two pellets with great care as he withdrew them. His face glowed with satisfaction as he replied, “Sovereign Profound beasts are extremely hard to find, and they are even harder to hunt. In order to obtain the profound cores of these two profound beasts, my Ocean Palace had to exert themselves greatly. But since the payoff was two of these matchless and wondrous pellets, it was more than worth it.”
The Sovereign of the Seas shot Zi Ji a glance before speaking, “Yun Che, I heard the rumors about your master ‘Old Man Duotian’ from Sun Moon Divine Hall. Even though the actions of Sun Moon Divine Hall clearly demonstrated their great fear of your teacher, this sovereign still remained mostly skeptical about the entire affair. But now that I have seen this peerless, precious medicine that your master can produce easily with a flick of finger, this sovereign cannot help but bow to the truth that was demonstrated by such skill. Even if we poured all of our resources and effort into such an endeavor, my Ocean Palace would not be able to refine this medicine.”
“You do not need to worry. Zi Ji has only advised me on the truth behind this precious medicine. In this world, only the three of us know about it, there definitely won’t be a fourth person.” The Sovereign of the Seas said, her face expressionless and her eyes cold and tranquil as a lake.
“This junior naturally will not dare to doubt the words of the Sovereign of the Seas.” Yun Che replied.
“Zi Ji has also mentioned this to me. Several months ago, you requested that the Black Moon Merchant Guild help you auction off twenty of these precious pellets, and after that, you swore that you would not sell any more of these pellets to the Four Great Sacred Grounds. Is that truly the case?”
“Of course it is.” Yun Che replied as he nodded his head unhesitantly, “No matter how precious something is, if it is easily available, it won’t be worth much. If not for the fact that this junior required a large amount of Purple Veined Divine Crystal within a short amount of time, I would definitely not choose to sell this medicine at all.”
“That would be most ideal.” The Sovereign of the Seas said as she nodded her head solemnly. Once the twenty Overlord Pellets that came from Yun Che were revealed to the whole world, it would definitely cause a great stir. The other three Sacred Grounds would spare no expense in obtaining as many of them as they possibly could. But in the end, the most likely outcome was that all four Sacred Grounds would split the twenty pellets evenly. Anyone who was not a Sacred Ground could forget about obtaining even one pellet.
So, in the end, Supreme Ocean Palace would appear to have five of the pellets, but the fact of the matter was that they would have seventeen of them! And the price they had to pay merely amounted to a measly ten kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal and granting Yun Che permission to enter the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest once. These extra twelve Overlord Pellets could not be used publicly in the short term, but once a generation had passed, the peak of the Supreme Ocean Palace’s power would definitely far exceed its current lofty heights, and they might even be able to surpass Absolute Monarch Sanctuary!
“This Devil Sword Conference will cause all the heroes of the realm to gather together, so it will be an excellent time to hold an auction. After the Devil Sword Conference ends, this sovereign will naturally get Zi Ji to make the necessary arrangements.” The Sovereign of the Seas raised a long sleeve as she flipped her hand, and a piece of precious jade that emitted an ethereal blue light floated on top of her palm. She gently pushed the precious jade towards Zi Ji, “This is our Supreme Ocean Palace’s Ocean Emperor Seal, the emblem of the Sovereign of the Seas. It is also the only object that can release the restriction placed on the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. Zi Ji, take it and bring Yun Che to the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest right away. And once the matter has been resolved, come back as fast as you can!”
Zi Ji did not say a word. He merely gave a faint nod of his head as he gripped the Ocean Emperor Seal tightly in his hand.
Yun Che’s expression had not changed this entire time, but he had been secretly observing the expressions and body language of both the Sovereign of the Seas and Zi Ji…. As the ruler of the Ocean Palace, even the extremely exalted great elder Mo Chenfeng still held her in great reverence. But when Zi Ji interacted with the Sovereign of the Seas, his attitude was nearly the same as it had been when he was talking terms with Yun Che, there was hardly any fear or reverence when he spoke to her. When the Sovereign of the Seas had given Zi Ji and order, her tone was far less intimidating and imposing than when she was ordering Mo Chenfeng around… Furthermore, it seemed that this softened attitude was something that she was completely unaware of.
The relationship between Zi Ji and the Sovereign of the Seas… definitely seemed to be rather special.
A thought flashed through Yun Che’s mind, causing his eyebrows to twitch. He swiftly seized the opportunity to speak, “Sovereign of the Seas, Senior Zi, regarding the auctioning of these precious pellets, this junior has thought of a new trade and perhaps, it might be of great interest to the both of you.”
“Oh?” The Sovereign of the Seas said, her eyes slanting. But Zi Ji’s expression lit up with expectation and he replied merrily, “What kind of trade do you have in mind?”
Yun Che proceeded to explain in an unhurried manner, “The last time we spoke of this at the Black Moon Merchant Guild, Senior Zi said that one of these precious pellets could be sold for at least one kilogram of Purple Veined Divine Crystal. After that, Senior Zi did not even hesitate to produce ten kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal and even tell me about the secret of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, all so he could purchase ten pellets from me immediately. So it is very clear that Senior Zi regards the price of one kilogram of Purple Veined Divine Crystal as a very conservative estimate, and the actual price of one pellet when the time comes for it be auctioned will definitely be far higher than this.”
“Hohoho.” Zi Ji gave a tepid laugh and allowed Yun Che to continue. Even though he held an extremely exalted position within one of the Sacred Grounds of the profound world, when he dealt with profound practitioners, he would always rather identify himself as a merchant. And a merchant would definitely never easily reveal his “true valuation” of an item. Once he had found out about the effects of the Overlord Pellet, he was entirely sure that the price of one pellet would definitely not only be one kilogram of Purple Veined Divine Crystal… especially if they were talking about the Sacred Grounds, it was definitely not going to be as low as that.
The Sacred Grounds would never have enough of resources that could directly increase their power, so a medicinal pellet like the Overlord Pellet that could forcibly break through high-level bottlenecks was an item that the Sacred Grounds yearned for even in their dreams.
Yun Che reached into the Sky Poison Pearl and took out twenty Overlord Pellets. The rich, thick and intense aura of medicine instantly pervaded the entire Ocean Imperial Palace, causing the atmosphere within the Ocean Imperial Palace to change precipitously, despite being enveloped by an extremely strong profound formation.
The gazes of Zi Ji and the Sovereign of the Seas fell on the twenty Overlord Pellets simultaneously… and even though she was the Sovereign of the Seas, she could not help but be shaken when confronted with a medicinal aura that she acknowledged as being able to shake the heavens and the earth.
“Originally, my desire was to hand over twenty of these precious pellets to Senior Zi so he could auction them off. But now, I have changed my mind.”
“Oh? Could it be that you decided not to sell them?” Zi Ji asked.
“No! I have only decided to change the way they are going to be sold.” Yun Che made a gesture with his arm, but he did not withdraw these twenty Overlord Pellets. Instead he continued speaking with an extremely sincere expression, “I decided that I would rather sell these twenty Overlord Pellets for twenty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals directly to the Supreme Ocean Palace before I venture into the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. After that, whatever you get from auctioning off these twenty precious pellets will all belong to you, it will have nothing to do with me!”
“…” The Sovereign of the Seas’ and Zi Ji’s eyebrows very clearly twitched at those words.
“Why have you come to this decision?” Zi Ji asked in a composed manner, “If you auctioned these pellets to the Four Sacred Grounds, their price will definitely not only be twenty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal. I can frankly and honestly tell you that the price of one kilogram for one pellet is indeed the most conservative estimate. And for medicine that would allow a person to break through the bottleneck of the Tyrant Profound Realm, even if it was one and a half kilograms for one pellet, the Four Sacred Grounds would still fight tooth and nail with each other to obtain these pellets.”
“I know.” Yun Che said with a bland smile, “If not, given Senior Zi’s mental state which is akin to a thousand year old dead tree, he would not have been so anxious to buy ten of these pellets.”
Zi Ji, “…”
“I am not a greedy person.” Yun Che continued, “And the price of one kilogram of Purple Veined Divine Crystal for one pellet had already exceeded my initial expectations. Even though the price I could fetch for twenty of these precious pellets through an auction is far higher than twenty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal, this amount already satisfies my requirements, and I have no real need for any more than that. For me, if I can obtain this amount early on, it would give me greater peace of mind.”
Zi Ji fell silent for a brief period of time before replying, “In another three days, the Devil Sword Conference will commence. Once the Devil Sword Conference ends, I will personally arrange for an auction to be held before all the heroes of the realm depart. Added altogether, this should take place in a mere four to five days. At that time, the price you can get from the auction will at least surpass twenty five kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal! But for the sake of getting these Divine Crystals a few days earlier, you are willing to forego at least five to ten kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals!?”
“Yes!” Yun Che said as he nodded his head, “Of course, this is just my own personal desire. If the Sovereign of the Seas and Senior Zi are not amenable to this suggestion, then I won’t try to force the issue.”
Zi Ji and the Sovereign of the Seas exchanged a glance before he replied with a wide smile, “How could our Ocean Palace miss out on this great opportunity? If you are truly willing to do as you said… Sovereign of the Seas, we will need to use a part of those Divine Crystals.”
“Indeed, we must.” The Sovereign of the Seas said with a faint nod as she gazed into Yun Che’s eyes before replying, “Purple Veined Divine Crystals are the most valuable and rare resources in the entire Profound Sky Continent! And it is extremely hard for anyone to be able to use twenty kilograms of it in a single transaction.”
“Oh?” Yun Che said as he raised his eyebrows, “The Four Great Sacred Grounds definitely have resources that are far more vast than the common man can imagine. Moreover, the Supreme Ocean Palace also has the support of the Black Moon Merchant Guild. While twenty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal is an astronomical sum to the other powers, for your Supreme Ocean Palace, it shouldn’t be too big of a request, correct?”
“It seems that you do not have a clear understanding of just how precious and rare Purple Veined Divine Crystals are.” The Sovereign of the Seas said as she shot Yun Che a glance, “When it comes to the abundance of resources, our Supreme Ocean Palace is the first amongst the Four Great Sacred Grounds. But do you know how many Divine Crystals our Ocean Palace distributes to our most talented disciples every five years?”
Yun Che, “…”
The Sovereign of the Seas slowly extended one finger, “It is fifty grams! Moreover, only the most talented, high-status disciples in our Sacred Ground will receive this amount, and that includes this sovereign as well!”
“That is also to say that even if it was this sovereign’s son, he would only be able to obtain half a kilogram of Purple Veined Divine Crystal after fifty years! As for Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, Sun Moon Divine Hall and Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, they will definitely distribute a lesser amount than we do! Even for the other powers within the Profound Sky Continent, obtaining a Divine Crystal that is as small as a grain of sand could be said to be the highlight of a lifetime! Yet you are willing to forego such a huge amount of Divine Crystals just for those few days of ‘peace of mind’. This ‘magnanimity and open-mindedness’ has truly expanded my horizons!”
Yun Che’s expression did not change. “This junior definitely understands the value of the Purple Veined Divine Crystals. But since your Ocean Palace is unable to retrieve twenty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal, then you can treat it as if this junior had never mentioned this matter in the first place. Senior Zi, I will have to trouble you to escort this junior to the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.”
Yun Che was calm and collected and there was an air about him that showed that he did not really care whether it was a few days early or a few days late or how much more or less Purple Veined Divine Crystals he could obtain from this deal.
“Twenty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal is indeed an astronomical sum, but that does not mean that our Ocean Palace is unable to foot the bill.”
Zi Ji continued speaking as a merry smile spread across his face, “The last time we expended ten kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal in order to buy those ten pellets from you, using up nearly half of the Divine Crystals that our Ocean Palace had allotted for use. That is to say that the amount of Divine Crystals that our Ocean Palace is currently free to use only amounts to about ten kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal. But other than this amount, we still have a stash of Divine Crystals that we are not allowed to touch.”
“Not allowed to touch? Could it be that it is being held in reserve in case disaster strikes?” Yun Che asked after he thought about it briefly.
“Hoho, you are indeed intelligent.” Zi Ji said as he nodded his head, “Our Supreme Ocean Palace has stashed away twenty five kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal for the longest time. And this stash of Divine Crystals are only to be used to activate a sect-wide protective profound formation when the Ocean Palace encounters a great crisis. So we were given a strict order that has been passed down for generations, that we were not to use these Divine Crystals unless we encountered such a crisis. The truth of the matter is that these twenty five kilograms of Divine Crystals have been stored in reserve for the past eight thousand years or so, but we have yet to find the occasion to use it.”
Because within the Profound Sky Continent, there was nothing that could threaten the extermination of Supreme Ocean Palace.
Chapter 771 - Mighty Heavenly Sword Master
“Even though using these divine crystals violates our ancestor’s prohibition, a transaction like this with such tremendous earnings yet is so low-risk, I can’t find any reason to refuse. This could be said to be the most profitable transaction I’ve done in my entire life. If I miss out, I wouldn’t deserve to call myself a merchant.”
As his voice fell, a spatial ring that flashed with purple light appeared in Zi Ji’s hand. He put the purple crystal spatial ring before Yun Che’s eyes. “In here, are precisely twenty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals. If you want to back out, there’s still time to do so right now.”
Yun Che didn’t answer. With a push of his hand, twenty Overlord Pellets flew over to Zi Ji. Simultaneously the purple crystal spatial ring in Zi Ji’s hand was drawn over into his hands. He used his conscious to look inside and found twenty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals stored inside with not a gram more or less.
“Making a transaction with Senior Zi is sure delightful.” Yun Che withdrew the purple crystal spatial ring. “I hope Senior Zi will not forget that these twenty precious pellets can only be used for auction and not pocketed privately.”
With these twenty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal now in hand added to the twenty five kilograms inside the Sky Poison Pearl… Jasmine’s required thirty five kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals had thus been met!
He had two profound cores already in hand and they were Sovereign Profound Cores, far above Jasmine’s needed Emperor Profound Cores.
The only thing missing was now only the Netherworld Udumbara Flower!
“Hoho, that is a matter of course.” Zi Ji’s profound energy also swept across every Overlord Pellet, then carefully withdrew them with a face full of smiles… This was indeed the most profitable transaction he had made in his entire life. Not only was it easy, Yun Che had obtained more than ten kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals and the entire process only took a short, few days.
The “sum” of the exchange between the two was enormous, yet was easily completed in but a few words and left both sides extremely satisfied.
He was in possession of forty five kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals, an amount that was astronomical whether it was in the Illusory Demon Realm or the Profound Sky Continent and definitely surpassed any Sacred Ground’s reserves! Yun Che knew that him being able to obtain this many Purple Veined Divine Crystals definitely was not based on his own strength, but rather the Sky Poison Pearl’s unrivaled heaven defying power.
But that was merely in terms of reserves. The current Yun Che wasn’t actually in possession of the highest number within the Profound Sky Continent… the ones with the most Purple Veined Divine Crystals were actually the Divine Phoenix Sect!
The death of the Phoenix God and having fifty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal were two secrets the Divine Phoenix Sect had to protect with their lives! Either being leaked out could attract a huge catastrophe. In order to cover up those secrets the Divine Phoenix Sect spared no effort in pursuing their cruel war with the Blue Wind Nation.
“Well done!” The Sovereign of the Seas was also evidently pleased about this transaction. Her face that was always stiff had even smoothed somewhat. “Asgard Master Yun, you are indeed an extraordinary person of talent. Since this transaction is complete, Zi Ji, you can now take Yun Che to Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.”
“However, Asgard Master Yun, this sovereign must still remind you again that Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’s seal will only be open for one hundred breaths! After a hundred breaths of time, the seal will automatically close and definitely can’t be forced open again. Thus, after entering Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, you must leave within a hundred breaths regardless of the outcome or else you will die inside, eternally trapped! Furthermore, the yin energy in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest is extremely strong. Not only will it substantially suppress profound energy, it will also decrease one’s life essence. Forget about you at your current strength, even this sovereign would not last a day before dying as a cripple if trapped inside. Being able to stay in there for a five hundred years before leaving at its next opening is complete nonsense.”
“Don’t worry, when we get there, I will go inside the devil nest along with him. No need to wait for a hundred breaths, once fifty breaths have passed, I will forcibly bring him out.” Zi Ji said as he chuckled.
“That’s for the best, you may go!”
……………………
Together, Yun Che and Zi Ji left Ocean Imperial Palace. Feng Xue’er, who was waiting outside quickly walked to Yun Che’s side. “Big Brother Yun, are you alright?”
“Of course I’m alright.” Yun Che smiled as he held Feng Xue’er’s hand then extended the other one, gesturing toward Zi Ji, “This is Supreme Ocean Palace’s Senior Zi Ji.”
“Divine Phoenix Sect’s Feng Xue’er greets Senior Zi.”
Zi Ji smiled as he nodded with a peculiar expression in his eyes. “Princess Snow’s name has long passed through my ears. To have met you in person is a great fortune.”
“Xue’er, I’m going to enter the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest with Senior Zi. Go accompany your royal father first, I will be back before you know it.” Yun Che said to Feng Xue’er.
“You’re going in now?” Feng Xue’er knew that the main objective for Yun Che’s visit to Supreme Ocean Palace was to enter the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, she just did not expect it to happen so quickly. She automatically replied, “Then I am definitely going to be accompanying Big Brother Yun as well. After all, I already promised all the Junior and Senior Masters that I would definitely be keeping watch over you at all times.”
“Alright then.” Yun Che had expected such a reply so he did not try to talk her out of it. He gripped Feng Xue’er’s tiny hand even tighter than before and said sincerely, “It is very likely that there will be unforeseen dangers that lurk in that place, so you must definitely listen to my every word while we are inside. You must definitely not endanger your own life trying to protect me.”
“I know! I’ve always been really obedient to Big Brother Yun you know.” Feng Xue’er said with a sweet smile.
The intimacy shared between the two of them caused Zi Ji’s mood to immediately grow complex. He raised his hand and spoke, “The Moon Slaughter Devil Nest is extremely close to our Ocean Palace. If you travel seventy-five kilometers south in a straight line, you will reach your destination. So Yun Che, unless you have any other things to settle, let us make haste.”
“Alright! I’ll have to trouble Senior Zi to lead the way then!”
Just as the three people took to the sky, they saw a faraway figure rushing towards them at an extremely fast speed, as if that person was really eager to catch up to them. Yun Che halted in mid-air before letting out a low yell, “Yuanba! What are you doing here?”
Whoosh!
A rush of wild wind blew in Xia Yuanba’s wake as he rushed over. He bent over to catch his breath as he gasped for air. He said, “My teacher has already settled in, so since I have nothing better to do, I went to look for Brother-in-law. Ah? Mister Zi? You… are going somewhere?”
During the last Seven Nation Ranking Tournament, Ancient Blue had brought Xia Yuanba to the Divine Phoenix City, and the first place they had paid a visit to was the Black Moon Merchant Guild. The purpose of that visit was to see Zi Ji. So even though Xia Yuanba had never been to Supreme Ocean Palace before, he still recognized Zi Ji.
“We are going to the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. Yuanba, do you want to come with us?” Yun Che knew that the reason Xia Yuanba had rushed over in such a hurry was because he was worried for Yun Che’s safety. Now that they were going to enter the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, Xia Yuanba would definitely want to come along, and they could forget about chasing him away.
“Ah? We’re going now? Of course, I’m coming along! I’m actually also very curious to see what that place is like.” Xia Yuanba said with much excitement.
“Sigh.” Zi Ji laughed as he shook his head as he simply let out a sigh, “Let’s be off then. Once we reach that place, remember to always be on your guard.”
Standing guard over the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was the reason behind the existence of Supreme Ocean Palace in the first place, so it was natural that they would not be located too far apart. And to the four of them, seventy-five kilometers could be said to be a short stroll in the park.
Before long, they had reached the southern border of Supreme Ocean Palace.
A human figure appeared in their path.
Even though they were still several kilometers away from that person, Yun Che, Feng Xue’er, Xia Yuanba and Zi Ji all began to slow down simultaneously as the look in their eyes subtly changed.
“That person… has an incredible aura! Despite the fact that he is still so far away, I’m actually finding it hard to breathe.” Xia Yuanba exclaimed as he sucked in some air. He continued in a low voice, “It seems like he is even stronger than my master!”
As they drew closer to that person, his figure grew clearer in their vision. The man was wearing simple green robes, his body was lithe and limber, his long black hair bound into a simple ponytail which reached his waist. He was floating more than thirty meters above the surface of the ocean and despite the howling of the seabreeze around him, neither his clothes nor his hair moved a centimeter. Even the surface of the ocean beneath his feet was completely calm and still, not a single ripple that could be seen.
It seemed as if the space that existed around him had been completely frozen and sealed.
The man did not move a muscle and his body did not release any profound energy. As Yun Che’s party approached him, a soundless pressure descended upon them and it felt as if a metal plate that was growing thicker and thicker was being pressed against their chests.
“Senior Zi, who is that person?” Yun Che asked in a soft voice. The soundless might and pressure that this man was exuding definitely exceeded the might and pressure that Duke Ming had displayed at the Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley!
Zi Ji did not reply, striding forward to address the man that stood in front of them, “Sword Master Xuanyuan, what brings you here? To think that we would find you surveying this part of the ocean by yourself. Could it be that you have attained some form of enlightenment in recent days?”
Sword Master Xuanyuan!
These four words caused the hearts of Yun Che and his two companions to tremble.
“So he is the Sword Master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region… Xuanyuan Wentian!?” Xia Yuanba said in a low whisper.
“…” Yun Che’s hand curled inwards as it began to tighten into a fist. It was only after a good amount of time had passed that it finally relaxed a little.
Mighty Heavenly Sword Region… the ones who had caused the crippling of his parents and the death of his grandfather! It was also Mighty Heavenly Sword Region who killed Xiao Yun’s birth father, causing his birth mother to die of sorrow, and thus plunging Xiao Lie into despair and agony for more than twenty years….
The tragedies that stuck both his and Xiao Yun’s families all those years ago could be said to have been orchestrated by Duke Ming, but if Duke Ming had schemed up the whole thing, then Mighty Heavenly Sword Region had been the ones who had wielded the executioner’s blade!!
The green-robed man slowly turned around. His face was thin and sunken, his features were completely ordinary. His gaze raked across all four of them before he gave a weak smile and spoke, “Ah, so it was Mister Zi.”
After he had muttered those words, his gaze directly fell on Yun Che.
“If my guess isn’t wrong, the person to the right of Mister Zi should be the Yun Che who has sent shockwaves through the Profound Sky Continent in recent months.”
Yun Che, “…”
“Hoho, it is so. But who would have thought a supreme existence like Sword Master Xuanyuan would take such great notice of a junior.” Zi Ji replied in an even tone.
“That is only natural.” A bland smile that was filled with deep meaning spread across Xuanyuan Wentian’s placid face, but his eyes remained fixed on Yun Che, “As the most outstanding youngster of his generation, I would hope that you, Asgard Master Yun, will make it a point to come for the Devil Sword Conference that is being held in three days. The Devil Sword Conference would lose much of its luster if you choose not to grace us with your presence.”
Yun Che, “…?”
“It looks like Mister Zi and Asgard Master Yun still have some important things to attend to, so I won’t inconvenience you any further. Please.”
A mysterious smile was draped across Xuanyuan Wentian’s face as he slowly ascended into the sky. After that, his body blurred as he flew towards Supreme Ocean Palace. He had not asked them where they were heading to… as if that held no interest whatsoever.
“That was the Sword Master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region—Xuanyuan Wentian. I never thought we would meet him in such a place.”
Zi Ji said this rather casually, but once he had finished speaking, he took to the air once more as he continued to travel south.
Yun Che’s brows sank and his spirit suddenly felt a lot heavier. After a period of silence, he spoke out in the recesses of his mind, “Jasmine, during the period that we are staying in Supreme Ocean Palace, it is highly likely that I will have need of your strength… because I can’t shake the feeling that something just isn’t right.”
“Hmph!” Jasmine gave a bland and cold snort, “If I do not want you to die, ten thousand Xuanyuan Wentians would not be enough to kill you. But I am rather curious about one thing, why did you make such a bad bargain with Supreme Ocean Palace?”
“Because I have been having this inexplicable feeling of uneasiness ever since I arrived at Supreme Ocean Palace.” Yun Che said as his voice grew solemn, “I am afraid that some variables will appear during the Devil Sword Conference, so it would be best if I settled all my business first. Moreover, the gaze of that Xuanyuan Wentian… makes me feel as if I am completely naked before him.”
“I just hope that it’s just my overactive imagination… but no matter what, I definitely need to proceed with extreme caution now.”
……………………
“Father, the Toxin Immortal has arrived.”
The one who spoke was blue-robed young man with a thin and sunken face. His features and his figure resembled Xuanyuan Wentian very much.
The man who stood in front of him was the Xuanyuan Wentian who had just returned to Supreme Ocean Palace.
“Very good.” Xuanyuan Wentian said with a curt nod of his head, “I hope that his venomous insect poison works just like it does in the legends. If all he has is an empty reputation and he is of no use to us whatsoever, then there is no need for him to remain on this earth.”
“Is Father going to see him now?” The young man asked.
Xuanyuan Wentian did not give the go-ahead. Instead he spoke in a slow and deliberate tone, “That Yun Che didn’t disappoint me after all. He is already within Supreme Ocean Palace. I actually just met him.”
The young man threw his head back in delight as a dangerous smile played across his face, “That’s just wonderful news.”
“During the past hundred years, I have been obsessed with my preparations regarding the Devil Sword. I had originally planned to pay a visit to the Illusory Demon Realm again after I unsealed the Devil Sword so I could seize the Mirror of Samsara. But who would have thought that it would actually deliver itself up to me just as the Devil Sword is about to be unsealed. Truly even the heavens are on my side!” Xuanyuan Wentian said as he soundlessly laughed, his face raised to the heavens.
“Does that Mirror of Samsara really hide the ‘secrets of the Divine Profound’?” The young man asked.
“The secrets of the Divine Profound?” Xuanyuan Wentian said as his eyes faintly narrowed, “That was only a lie that the Illusory Demon Realm’s Duke Ming invented so he could make use of us. Hoho, that Duke Ming probably still naively believes that his intelligence and cunning was truly so peerless and unmatched that he managed to use the invented secret of the Mirror of Samsara to manipulate us into helping him achieve his ambition. Little does he knew that without my intervention and exhortation all those years ago, the other three Sacred Grounds would not have so easily bent to his will and commenced the invasion of the Illusory Demon Realm.”
“Since the so-called secrets of the Divine Profound are fake, then why does Father still have such a strong desire for the Mirror of Samsara? The young man asked very sincerely.
“I asked the Devil Sword about the Mirror of Samsara at that time, and it told me that the Mirror of Samsara was one of the ‘Heavenly Profound Treasures’, an item that even the gods of the Primordial Era desired to obtain. So even though I do not know exactly what it can do, something that even the gods themselves desired definitely is a hundred thousand times more valuable than those so-called ‘secrets of the Divine Profound’!”
“It was something that I definitely had to obtain once I unsealed the Devil Sword. And now that it has delivered itself to my doorstep, then how could I miss this opportunity to gladly receive it!!”
“Wendao, this matter is a secret that is to be kept solely between us, father and son.” Xuanyuan Wentian said as he cast a sidelong glance at his own son, “Furthermore, this is Supreme Ocean Palace, not the Sword Region, so do not mention even a single word of this again.”
“This son understands!”
Chapter 772 - Moon Slaughter Devil Nest
“What caused me the most concern was that Xuanyuan Wentian did not ask me where we were going just now. He also did not ask him anything regarding the ‘master’ that I had invented, yet he still gave me a very weird look.” Yun Che said to Jasmine in a low voice, “Moreover, when I visited Heavenly Sword Villa, that Xuanyuan Jiuding also gave me a very strange look as well.”
The strongest attributes Yun Che possessed were his powers of perception, insight and an intuition that was so strong that it bordered on terrifying.
“I’m just thinking that it’s extremely possible that Mighty Heavenly Sword Region may have uncovered some information. For example, for some reason, they already know that the ‘Old Man Duotian’ I invented is fake.” Yun Che said as his brows sank.
“Hmph, with me around, are you still actually afraid that you’ll die?” Jasmine scoffed. In the eyes of the profound practitioners of the Profound Sky Continent, Xuanyuan Wentian was someone that was akin to a god, a peerless individual. But in her eyes, he was just an ant that was slightly bigger than the rest.
“…So that is to say that for the duration that we are staying in Supreme Ocean Palace, I will need to rely on your power.” Yun Che said helplessly and reluctantly. He was not a person who was used to relying on others because he was extremely clear that relying on this sort of thing would for a major impediment to his growth—Jasmine knew this too, so for the past few years, she had kept up the pretense that she had sealed her own powers away.
This time, in order to grasp the slim chance that he might be able to obtain the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, he had no choice but to face the exceedingly powerful Four Sacred Grounds in advance. Therefore, he had no choice but to rely on Jasmine’s power… Otherwise, if Jasmine was still the state where “her power was sealed,” he would definitely not choose come to Supreme Ocean Palace at this point of time.
“Yun Che, you need to be exceedingly cautious about Xuanyuan Wentian.” Zi Ji suddenly said when he saw Yun Che’s solemn expression, “Xuanyuan Wentian is someone who is truly a sword maniac, and he has an insatiable desire for strength. Even though Mighty Heavenly Sword Region is the weakest of all the Four Sacred Grounds when it comes to aggregate power, Xuanyuan Wentian himself is slightly stronger than the Sovereign of the Seas, Qu Fengyi, and the Heavenly Monarch, Ye Meixie. Even when you compare him with the Saint Emperor, Huangji Wuyu, there is scarcely any difference in their power.”
“But if he was just a simple sword maniac, then that would be fine. Even though he seems like a refined, courteous gentleman and a respectable elder, the truth of the matter is that he is an extremely prejudiced and shrewd person, someone who is willing to do anything for the sake of attaining power. One thousand years ago, the Eternal Night Royal Family were destroyed for the sake of his insane ambition and even the rest of us became his accomplices during that sordid affair. In the end, we had no choice but to commit one wrong after another in order to protect the reputation of the Sacred Grounds.”
“Furthermore, your innate talent is extremely unusual and there are far too many unexplainable mysteries about you. If not for that inscrutably powerful teacher of yours, he might have already made his move against you… Just now he behaved in a rather odd manner, so it is something that you best pay attention to.”
Zi Ji’s voice was soft, but the warning in his eyes was clear for all to see. Yun Che and Xuanyuan Wentian had just met for this first time today, and someone who was at Zi Ji’s level would definitely know far more about Xuanyuan Wentian than Yun Che himself.
Yun Che nodded his head, “I understand. Thank you for your warning, Senior Zi… Senior Zi, this junior is also curious about one thing, but I’m not sure if it is a question that I should ask.”
Qu Fengyi… That was the name identified by Senior Zi as belonging to the Sovereign of the Seas. As one of the four Holy Masters of the Profound Sky Continent, her name was not domineering, but neither was it feminine or soft. Instead, it was a name that seemed to have weathered many storms.
The Saint Emperor, the ruler of the Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, the head of the four Holy Masters, and the person who reigned supreme in the Profound Sky Continent. His name was Huangji Wuyu…
Wuyu? (No desires?)
It was said that the Saint Emperor was unable to produce a heir, and he only had a few foster children. Could it be anything to do with the words “no desire”?
…If a man had no desires, then how was he different from a salted fish?!
“Ah, do you want to ask what kind of relationship I have with the Sovereign of the Seas?” Zi Hi asked with a faint smile.
Yun Che replied with a laugh, “Senior Zi’s perceptiveness is indeed illuminating. When we were at the Black Moon Merchant Guild and Senior Zi was able to move a whole ten kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal in one transaction, this junior was very sure that Senior Zi definitely had an exalted position within Supreme Ocean Palace. And just now, when we were in the Ocean Imperial Palace, the Purple Veined Divine Crystals that had been held in reserve were also on Senior Zi’s person. Furthermore, the Sovereign of the Seas is an extremely imposing person, but when she treated Senior Zi entirely differently from how she treated her own great elder. So this junior cannot help but be extremely curious in regards to Senior Zi’s identity.”
Zi Ji have a faint smile as he said, “Then why don’t you try guessing it.”
Yun Che had already made a rather enlightened guess in his heart so he replied in a very frank manner, “This junior has heard Yuanba mention that there are seven existences that are above the great elder within Supreme Ocean Palace, these seven people are extremely powerful profound practitioners known as the Seven Venerable Ones, and they have the colors red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue and purple in their names. The weakest of the seven is Venerable Red and the strongest is Venerable Purple, whose power is inferior to only the Sovereign of the Seas herself. Furthermore, Senior Zi just happens to have the color purple as a surname. So Senior Zi being the number two person within Supreme Ocean Palace may just pass muster as an explanation.”
“It is just that even though Senior Zi’s profound strength is extremely high, the pressure it gives this junior is less than that of Great Elder Mo Chenfeng. So it is definitely impossible for Senior Zi to be one of the Seven Venerable Ones… and because of this, the only answer that this junior can think of is that the both of you are…”
“Husband and wife!”
“…” Zi Ji gave a startled jolt before throwing his head back and laughing loudly.
“You are far worthier of the words ‘perceptiveness is illuminating’.” Zi Ji said with a great laugh, but his words did not confirm Yun Che’s guess, “If you are talking about status alone, I am indeed the husband of the Sovereign of the Seas. But the relationship of husband and wife that I have with her is utterly alien to your concept of what a husband and wife are.”
“…What does Senior Zi mean?”
“I have been married to her for a very, very long time. It was according to the wishes of our parents and the sect. However, when I married her, I had never dreamed that she would become the next Sovereign of the Seas. Her entire heart and soul was consumed by the profound way. This coupled with her extremely high innate talent paved the path for her to become the number one person in Supreme Ocean Palace. However, I have always been fascinated with commerce and I spent most of my time either at the Black Moon Merchant Guild headquarters or visiting the branches scattered around the Profound Sky Continent. I rarely ever return to Supreme Ocean Palace. I will normally only see the Sovereign of the Seas once every ten years on average and even though we are husband and wife, we don’t have many feelings for each other. Our union was ultimately meant to signify that the Black Moon Merchant Guild and Supreme Ocean Palace were one entity and not two powers that stood independent of one another.”
When he was relating his tale, Zi Ji’s tone was even and it was not melancholic in the least.
“Ah, so that’s how it is.” Yun Che nodded his head slowly, “This junior does not dare speculate on whether the husband and wife relationship Senior Zi and the Sovereign of the Seas shares is shallow or not, but there is one thing this junior is very convinced of. The Sovereign of the Seas places a lot of trust in Senior Zi. And it may just be that Senior Zi is the one person in this entire world that the Sovereign of the Seas truly trusts.”
“Hoho.” Zi Ji gave a brief laugh before pointing ahead, “We are here. This is where the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest is located.”
There was a gloomy blue light that was intermittently flickering about five kilometers ahead of them. There was a small island that was nearly perfectly round and on top of the island lay a dome-shaped barrier which fully engulfed it. The gloomy blue radiance was coming from the barrier that engulfed the small island.
The ocean surrounding the small island had sunk so low that it formed a trench around it. It was almost as if the seawater was being pushed away by some unimaginable power.
“This is the barrier that is used to seal the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.” Zi Ji said as he slowed down, “The Moon Slaughter Devil Nest is inside this barrier.”
“This place is located in the ocean and it is more than one thousand five hundred kilometers away from the mainland. Normally, no one will approach this place because there are always disciples of Supreme Ocean Palace keeping watch. Even if someone manages to enter by accident, the Sovereign of the Seas will be alerted immediately once that person comes into contact with the barrier.”
The four of them descended towards the island. Immediately, an incredibly strong repulsive force struck them. The strength of all four people was at the very peak of the Profound Sky Continent, but they immediately found it hard to breathe as an oppressive force constricted their chests.
“What a powerful barrier!” Xia Yuanba exclaimed in a low voice, “We are so far away and yet the repulsive force that struck us was strong… Master said that this barrier has persisted for more than ten thousand years, and that it could even be called the strongest barrier that exists within the Profound Sky Continent. It looks like the reputation it has for being indestructible is richly deserved.”
“Just based on its isolating ability alone, this barrier is indeed unparalleled.” Zi Ji said as he nodded his head, his expression filled with admiration and reverence, “The founders of Supreme Ocean Palace used more than half of the Tyrant Profound artifacts that exist in the Profound Sky Continent and used up an incredible amount of profound crystals in order to set up this barrier all those years ago. If not for this isolating barrier, that dreadful yin energy would have run rampant for the past ten thousand years and the consequences would have been unimaginable.”
“My Ocean Palace has flourished for ten thousand years and even though we have made our shares of mistakes through the years, we have also maintained this barrier for ten thousand years as well. So my Ocean Palace has always been able to search its own soul without being found wanting, truly living up to the name ‘Sacred Ground’!” Zi Ji’s calm voice was laced with pride. He strode forward slowly and the Ocean Emperor Seal, which was flickering with blue light, was already in his hand.
Yun Che took a quick breath before walking up to Zi Ji’s side. It had already been an entire seven years since Jasmine had first mentioned that she needed to find a Netherworld Udumbara Flower. In these seven years, the only place where it was possible to even find a Netherworld Udumbara Flower was the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest that laid enclosed in a barrier before him.
And now, Jasmine had already been cleansed of the devilish poison and all the materials that were needed to reconstitute her body had been gathered, save for that very Netherworld Udumbara Flower… Even though there was a very slim chance that they would be able to find one, here he was. He could only hope that he was able to find the miracle flower in full bloom during the short hundred breaths that he could stay in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.
The closer they drew to the barrier, the more they understood just how strong this barrier was. Yun Che was completely convinced that even if he had ten times the amount of strength, he would not even be able to make a dent in this barrier.
When Zi Ji stood right in front of the barrier, he raised the Ocean Emperor Seal and hesitated for a moment before turning around to address Yun Che, “Yun Che, even though we are already here, and I know that I shouldn’t say anything to dampen your hopes… but you should be very clear that the chance of finding a Netherworld Udumbara Flower in full bloom is extremely slim. Moreover, even if you do miraculously find one, how will you obtain it?”
“Those Supreme Ocean Elders who had seen the Netherworld Udumbara Flower all those years ago were all peerless powerhouses who were at the Sovereign Profound Realm. Even though they only looked at it from a distance for a few moments before swiftly departing, all of them suffered through a terrible illness after that. So it is hard to imagine the consequences of even coming close to that flower, much less picking it. And from my own knowledge, there has never once been a recorded instance where the Netherworld Udumbara Flower was successfully harvested in the history of Profound Sky Continent. The only records we have of this flower are the countless deaths that occurred because of it and its reputation as the ‘evilest of flowers’.”
“I have my own methods.” Yun Che said confidently.
The moment he had spoken those words, Jasmine’s voice also rang out in his mind, “If there is really a Netherworld Udumbara Flower, you must definitely not approach it. Even though you have the Dragon God Soul, if you come within thirty meters of it, you will definitely be wracked by extreme pain. And if you come within fifteen meters of it, you are simply begging for death! Leave the harvesting of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower to me, I will bring it into the Sky Poison Pearl fully intact.”
“I know.” Yun Che replied. When he was living in the Azure Cloud Continent, his master had taught him about the Netherworld Udumbara Flower as well and the words that he had emphasized the most when he had taught Yun Che about this flower was that “you must never ever come close to one.”
Zi Ji slowly nodded his head. He did not attempt to speak any further. Instead, he slapped the Ocean Emperor Seal heavily against the surface of the barrier in front of him.
Immediately, they could see the barrier ripple where it came into contact with the Ocean Emperor Seal. Zi Ji’s brows sank and he said in a solemn tone, “The moment the seal on the barrier is released, there will be a large amount of yin energy expelled. This yin energy is extremely domineering and if normal people and weak profound practitioners come into contact with it, their lives will be put in danger. The yin energy within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest is even more dreadful, and even if it is us, the moment we enter this place, our profound strength will be suppressed by two entire realms. At the same time, our vitality will also be drained away swiftly. Right now, you need to use all your strength to protect yourselves! You definitely must not underestimate the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest!”
Chapter 773 - Half-bloomed Udumbara (1)
Yun Che turned around and spoke to his two companions, “Yuanba, Xue’er, this place is extremely dangerous. I think it’s best that neither of you accompany me in and wait outside. And no matter whether this place has the thing that I am looking for or not, I will also leave as soon as possible.”
“That’s enough, Brother-in-Law.” Xia Yuanba shook his head as all of his muscles bulged fiercely and his body was surrounded by a peerless and domineering profound energy aura, “Since we have already come here, how can I not go in and have a look?”
“Big Brother Yun, if I am not by your side to protect you, all the Junior and Senior Masters will definitely blame me.” Feng Xue’er said in a soft voice, her expression completely devoid of fear.
“Alright.” Yun Che said as he grabbed Feng Xue’er’s tiny hand, “Xue’er, you mustn’t let go of my hand. Yuanba, you must be careful as well! If anything happens, remember that the first thing you should do is to run away!”
Sssss!!
A sound like thunder ripped through the air, as both the barrier and the Ocean Emperor Seal simultaneously emitted a glaring blue light. In the next instant, Zi Ji retreated swiftly as he gripped the Ocean Emperor Seal tightly while the a square-shaped hole that was two meters wide and long appeared in the barrier.
Tendrils of ebon darkness crazily gushed out from inside the barrier.
This was…
“We only have a hundred breaths, hurry up and go in!” Zi Ji shouted as he swiftly put away the Ocean Emperor Seal and rushed through the gap in the barrier.
“Be extremely cautious!” Yun Che did not have the leisure to think anymore, he pulled Feng Xue’er along as he rushed inside as well, with Xia Yuanba hot on his heels.
When they entered the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, it felt as if they had stepped into a desolate, icy abyss. A chill washed through them, body and soul. All of the hairs on their bodies instantly stood on end. Yun Che felt Feng Xue’er’s hands tightly grip onto him as she pressed herself against him.
The sun was shining really brightly over the South Ocean, and a hole that was two meters in length and width was big enough for the daylight to shine through and illuminate a large portion of the abyss. But, after they had taken three steps forward, they were thrust into the inky darkness once more; they could scarcely see even a glimmer of light.
When they turned around, all they could see of the entrance was a hazy white outline.
“The daylight is unable to penetrate this darkness!?” Xia Yuanba exclaimed in shock.
“This is darkness energy.” Yun Che said as his brows knit together. When he had fought Fen Juechen, he had used profound energy of this exact element, “This darkness energy will swallow all light while restricting your spirit perception at the same time… it may even affect your five senses!”
“That’s right!” Zi Ji’s voice rang out in the darkness, “This is only the entrance of the Devil Nest, the further you venture inside, the thicker the aura of darkness will be. Your spirit perception will be suppressed to barely a tenth of its normal strength! And your five senses will be similarly restricted! When you have reached the deepest parts of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, even your profound strength will be suppressed to the Emperor Profound Realm.”
“I am already beginning to feel… my profound strength being restricted.” Xia Yuanba said through gritted teeth as he raised an arm, “It feels as if my profound veins are being constricted by something, and I find it far harder to circulate my profound energy than normal.”
“…Senior Zi, we only have the space of a hundred breaths, so we need you to immediately bring us to the location where the Netherworld Udumbara Flower was last seen.” Yun Che said calmly.
“Yes!” Zi Ji replied.
Within the darkness, Feng Xue’er raised her arm and a scarlet cluster of Phoenix flames began to burn on top of her tender and white palm. The Phoenix flames that she had conjured were far purer than Yun Che’s Phoenix flames, so the light that these flames released would shine brightly over large distances. But within this Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, they could only illuminate the space that was within ten steps of them.
Furthermore, they were still only at the entrance.
Under the light of the Phoenix flames, Yun Che could see the floor that was still pitch-black despite being illuminated by the Phoenix flames. But he could not see the walls or the ceiling of the Devil Nest. It was clear to him now that this nest was far more spacious than he had expected it to be.
“Don’t worry, the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest only has one passageway, the path doesn’t fork or branch. As long as you follow the path, you will reach the end of the nest. Furthermore, this nest isn’t very deep. Given your current speed, you should be approaching the end of the nest in around thirty breaths.” Zi Ji was in front of them and he was moving at a respectable speed. Even though it was the first time he had entered the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, he had heard and read the records that the Supreme Ocean Palace had kept of this place so many times that he had practically committed it all to memory
“So that is to say that the Netherworld Udumbara Flower that was discovered one thousand three hundred years ago was located at the very end of the Devil Nest?”
“That is right.” Zi Ji replied as he nodded his head, “Ten thousand years ago, the seven Ocean Palace Ancestors who discovered the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest also plumbed its deepest reaches. The weakest among them was at the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, but once they had reached the deepest part of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, all of their profound strengths had dropped to the middle of the Emperor Profound Realm and their vitality was being drained away swiftly as well. Afterwards, they ran into the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign who was only at the initial stage of the Tyrant Profound Realm and they were massacred. Only one of the ancestors managed to escape with his life… After that, this ancestor established a law for us. The law was that we were forbidden from entering the deepest parts of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest unless we could confirm that Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was already dead.”
Zi Ji was steadily increasing his speed, but the profound energy aura he was releasing was growing weaker and weaker.
The radius of the light given off by the Phoenix flames were swiftly shrinking as well.
“So has the death of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign been confirmed?” Yun Che asked gravely.
“It’s only a Tyrant Profound beast after all.. Even the most powerful Sovereign Profound beasts only have a lifespan of a few thousands years. So no matter how strong a Tyrant Profound beast is, it will definitely not have a lifespan that extends past ten thousand years. Even though we have yet to discover its corpse… it should have long ago turned into dust within the darkness.” Zi Ji replied.
“Are there any clues as to where this yin energy is originating from?” Yun Che asked, his brows furrowing together as he looked ahead. At the same time, he checked his own profound veins.
The profound energy auras of Zi Ji, who was in front of him, Feng Xue’er, who was beside him, and Xia Yuanba, who was behind him, were all steadily growing weaker with each passing second. Zi Ji’s profound energy aura was weakening at the fastest rate, Xue’er’s aura weakened the second-fastest, while Xia Yuanba’s aura weakened at the slowest pace. Now that they had reached the middle of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, Zi Ji’s profound energy aura had already dropped to roughly the eighth level of the Tyrant Profound Realm.
Feng Xue’er and Xia Yuanba had both dropped to around the third level of the Sovereign Profound Realm.
And the reason why he could so clearly feel the change in their profound strength was because…
His profound veins had not been affected in the slightest!
He did not even find it hard to circulate his profound energy either.
Jasmine had indeed been right. The Evil God’s profound veins could not be restricted by ordinary means. The Heaven’s Might Soul Suppressing Formation would not be able to restrict them, and neither could the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest!
The suppressive power Feng Xue’er was facing was weaker than Zi Ji, and it was clear that it was because of her Phoenix bloodline!
As for Xia Yuanba, he was the person who possessed the Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins!
“This is the greatest unsolved mystery of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.” Zi Ji said as he exhaled, his breathing becoming slightly uneven, “The origin of this dreadful yin energy is something that my Ocean Palace wants to find out more than anyone else. But for the past ten thousand years, we have yet to find the answer to that question. Perhaps the origin of this yin energy is located in the deepest part of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. It is just that the yin energy in the deepest part of the nest is far too terrifying. It will cause a person’s profound strength to drop drastically and muddle their five senses. Perhaps even if the Sovereign of the Seas herself came into contact with it, she would unable to remain for longer than twenty breaths. So attempting to conduct a thorough search is a task that is as hard as soaring to the heavens.”
As their profound strength grew weaker, the scope of the spirit perception would grow smaller as well. It got harder and harder for them to breathe and their five senses kept growing weaker as well, to the point where they could not even hear the sounds of their own footsteps.”
“To think that such a place existed in this world. Sss…” Xia Yuanba said through gritted teeth. The feeling of having his profound strength and spirit perception suppressed was unbearable. It felt as though he had sunk into a deep marsh, and he found it difficult to even move his feet.
“Jasmine, have you figured out where this yin energy may have come from?” Yun Che asked in his heart. There was one thing that had caused him great concern… and that was the fact that Jasmine had kept silent ever since they had entered the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, and she had not said a single word since then.
“The yin energy in this place…” Jasmine’s voice grew extremely heavy, and Yun Che could hear traces of disbelief in that voice as well, “What exactly is going on here!?”
Yun Che ground to halt as he quickly asked, “Could it be that there is something irregular about this place?”
“This is something that is far beyond the word irregular!” Jasmine’s voice was frightfully low and heavy, “Based on strength alone, the aura of darkness in this place isn’t too intense, and one might say that it is actually rather weak. But… but if we are talking about the level of this darkness, it is so high that it is frightening.”
The words “so high that it was frightening” caused Yun Che’s heart to lurch in his chest. Because these words had been uttered by Jasmine herself.
“And as for the principles of darkness contained in this place, they are so profound that even I cannot understand them!”
Within the Sky Poison Pearl, Jasmine had a serious expression on her face, an expression that she had never adopted before. Her eyes which flashed with red light contained a fierce disbelief, “This level of darkness energy, I have not even seen it on the plane that I was born in, much less this plane! Just what sort of thing could release such an aura of darkness!!”
“…” Those few words of Jasmine had shocked Yun Che a million times more compared to when Zi Ji was telling him about the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.
“Yun Che! Leave this place immediately!” Jasmine suddenly yelled in a shrill voice, “The situation here is completely out of my expectation! There must be some incomparably terrifying object hidden inside this place! That’s the only explanation for this yin energy! Leave immediately and do not bother with the Netherworld Udumbara Flower right now! Because even if you…”
“Heeheeheehee… Kekekehahahaha… Huhuhuhu… Wahahahaha…”
At this time, an incomparably sinister laugh rang out from the darkness ahead of them. Ever since they had entered the depths of this place, their five senses were being heavily suppressed. Yet all of them could clearly hear this dreadful sound that sounded like the cackling of demons. It sounded like weeping and laughter all at the same time, and it seeped into their very souls.
“Ah!!” All four people came to an abrupt halt. Feng Xue’er had let out a cry of alarm as she dove into Yun Che’s chest, “Wha… what was that sound… it’s so scary!”
“The… there’s someone inside!?” Xia Yuanba said as he leaped forward to shield Yun Che and Feng Xue’er, as all the profound energy in his body surged crazily… However, even though he was Xia Yuanba, at this time, he was unable to combat the feeling of fear that coursed through his body.
Zi Ji was greatly shocked by the profound energy that Xia Yuanba had released with all of his strength. At this point, his profound strength had already been suppressed to the latter stages of the Emperor Profound Realm, but the enormous might and pressure that was being released by Xia Yuanba was shockingly belonged to the latter stages of Tyrant Profound Realm!
Zi Ji’s heart was completely flustered… The place where they were at was exceedingly close to the deepest part of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest and his own profound strength had already been suppressed by two entire realms, but Xia Yuanba’s strength had only been suppressed by one realm!
Even though it was only a difference of one realm, it was undoubtedly the difference between the heavens and the earth! Under normal circumstances, Xia Yuanba’s profound strength was weaker than Zi Ji’s, but right now, Xia Yuanba could kill him with a flick of his fingers.
Could this also be another advantage provided by the Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins?
“Wait! This sound…” Yun Che said as he got over his momentary fright. After he had taken the necessary precautions, his face suddenly relaxed as his eyes became filled with a triumphant light. He let go of Feng Xue’er and shot forward as he rounded a stone wall.
Immediately, the world before him was no longer pitch-black, instead he could see a bright, pulsing, purple light.
Within this dreadful darkness, Feng Xue’er’s Phoenix flames had only been able to light up an area that was roughly three meters wide. But the purple light that filled his vision radiated a full hundred meters outwards and it was indelibly burned into Yun Che’s eyes. It seemed as if even the deepest darkness in this world would be unable to devour this purple light.
The purple light gently flickered. However that bone-chilling and terrifying devilish laughter had also come from that purple light.
Yun Che’s heart began to pound in his chest like a hammer and his eyes widened into saucers as he stuttered, “That is… that is…”
“The Netherworld Udumbara Flower!!” Zi Ji’s voice rang out from behind Yun Che.
“Ah? That is… the thing that Big Brother Yun wants to find!?” Feng Xue’er cried in a voice filled with joy and amazement.
“That’s right! This is the Netherworld Udumbara Flower… The strange bright purple light, the ghostly wail that it emits every time it sways. This is exactly as my teacher described it!!” Yun Che said excitedly as both his hands curled into fists.
For an entire seven years, he had not been able to find a single trace of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. Yet today, he had entered the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest knowing that it would be a futile attempt, akin to trying to find a needle in a haystack… but who would have thought that he would have such a miraculous encounter!!
“Jasmine, we found it… we found it!!” Intense surprise and excitement had taken over Yun Che for a period of time. But at this moment, he noticed that something was wrong. Because he suddenly did not hear anything behind him, even the sound of breathing had completely disappeared.
Chapter 774 - Half-bloomed Udumbara (2)
Yun Che turned around in a flash. To his surprise, he found that Zi Ji, Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue’er all stood there with slack expressions on their face. Their eyes were completely blank and their pupils dilated and contracted intermittently. It was as if their souls had left their bodies.
Yun Che’s heart was filled with alarm as he rushed over and swiftly grabbed Feng Xue’er with his right hand, hugging her close. At the same time, his left hand shot out, releasing an energy wave that shoved Xia Yuanba and Zi Ji far away. He roared loudly and frantically, “Retreat! Don’t look at the purple light!!”
The three of them shuddered simultaneously, as if they were waking up from a dream. Feng Xue’er immediately hugged Yun Che tightly as she curled into his chest, not daring to raise her head again. Yun Che could clearly feel that her heart was racing. Zi Ji and Xia Yuanba practically fell over themselves as they scrambled backwards, and their expressions were ones of stark terror.
“This Netherworld Udumbara Flower indeed lives up to its reputation… No! It is far more terrifying than the legends describe it!” Zi Ji said as his heart hammered in his chest. His face was green and he was unable to compose himself at the moment. That purple light radiated at least one hundred meters outwards and despite that distance, it had so easily drawn him into this nightmare.
“To think that such a terrifying thing… actually exists in this world!” Xia Yuanba said in a rather traumatized voice, “Is it truly just a flower?”
“What did all of you experience just now? What exactly happened?” Yun Che asked as his brows furrowed. When Yun Che had stared at the purple light, he had only felt dazzled for a moment. He had not experienced any abnormality.
“Let’s not talk about these things right now!” Zi Ji said somberly. He leaned on a wall, not daring to look at the Netherworld Udumbara Flower again. Even then, he still had a vague feeling that a pair of demonic eyes were staring at him from some place and his heart was beating so fast that it felt like it would explode at any moment, “Yun Che! We only have a short hundred breaths! Right now, more than half of that time has passed! Your luck is extremely good. To think that you were actually able to find this dreadful Netherworld Udumbara Flower. Moreover, it is in half-bloom as well… Quickly seize this opportunity and retrieve it with the fastest possible speed! If we are not able to leave within the designated time limit, we will all be trapped here and die! There will be no chance of survival!”
“I understand!” Yun Che nodded his head, and once he had deposited Feng Xue’er beside the wall, he yelled out a warning, “Xue’er, Yuanba, lean against the wall! You definitely mustn’t turn back. I will harvest the Netherworld Udumbara Flower shortly!”
“Big Brother Yun… you must definitely be careful!” Feng Xue’er said in an extremely worried voice. Yun Che had told her about many of the legends associated with the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. But in that brief, horrible instant, she now knew that the dreadfulness of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower had far exceeded her wildest imagination.
“Don’t worry! Since I dared to come here, I definitely have a foolproof plan as well!”
Yun Che said this as he rounded the corner, taking more than ten steps towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. After that, he stopped and just as he was about to call Jasmine to go harvest the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, he heard Jasmine yell sternly, “Were you not listening to what I just said? Immediately leave this place! Don’t bother with the Netherworld Udumbara Flower anymore!”
Yun Che was taken aback, “But…”
“No buts from you!” Jasmine said in an extremely somber tone, “Haven’t you noticed that even though this Netherworld Udumbara Flower has already started to bloom, it is only in half-bloom!”
Yun Che was stunned by those words and he raised his head to stare that at that gently swaying purple light.
Within the deep darkness, the Netherworld Udumbara Flower’s appearance was still clear for all to see, as if it was right in front of Yun Che. It was slightly taller than three meters in height, its stem and leaves were greenish-black in color. In the middle of that fantastical bright, purple light, a bewitching flower could be seen. Every petal seemed to be made of radiant purple jade, but the flower bud was still faintly curled up and the petals had not fully unfurled. Even though it had an extremely bewitching and enchanting appearance, it had not fully bloomed yet.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was a desolate place, and the air was stale and stagnant. Yet the half-bloomed Netherworld Udumbara Flower gently swayed as it released a light purple mist that seemed to come from the underworld itself. And from time to time, it emitted that nightmarish sound that seemed to be a mix of both wailing and laughter. It was so sinister that it caused the souls of those who heard it to tremble.
And just as Jasmine had said, it had not fully bloomed yet!
Given Yun Che’s knowledge regarding plants and herbs, even though this Netherworld Udumbara Flower had not fully bloomed, it looked like it would not be long before it reached full bloom. Perhaps it would take a few more days, or even a few more hours, for it to bloom!
At this moment, the purple light suddenly flashed, and the scene in front of Yun Che blurred before becoming awash in a sea of purple.
A boundless purple world. It was as if he had stepped into some fantastical wonderland, and it caused his heart to become intoxicated and bewildered. All of the nervousness, apprehension and caution in his heart… seemed to melt away completely along with the rest of the emotions in his heart. He became completely relaxed and he felt as if his body had become as light as a feather. He could not help but desire to float up in the air so that he could fly even deeper into this purple-colored world, to the point where he could become one with this fantastical world…
After being lost in delirium for that brief instant, Yun Che jerked back to wakefulness. The purple-colored world instantly shattered before his eyes as it morphed into a pitch-black world which flickered with a bewitching purple light.
What a terrifying ability to invade the soul… Yun Che thought as his forehead was matted in cold sweat and his heart thumped wildly in his chest. A Netherworld Udumbara Flower that had not fully bloomed and was nearly one hundred meters distant from him had actually been able to hypnotize him, someone who possessed the Dragon God Soul, for a brief period of time!
If he had drawn close to it, the consequences would have been unimaginable!
Jasmine had told him that if he was within thirty meters of the flower, he would be wracked by indescribable pain and if he was within fifteen meters of the flower, he was practically committing suicide… Right now, Yun Che was completely convinced that these were not words that were just meant to frighten him.
“Even though it hasn’t fully bloomed, it is about seventy to eighty percent done! Will the difference be that drastic if you used this instead of a fully bloomed one?” Yun Che asked in a low voice as he looked to the side.
“It is the difference between the earth and the sky!” Jasmine said sternly, “Only a Netherworld Udumbara Flower in full bloom can perfectly merge my soul with my reconstituted body. The level of power of a Netherworld Udumbara Flower that has not fully bloomed is far from enough and even if you plucked ten thousand of them, they would not be able to perfectly merge my body and my soul. If we attempt to force a merger, I will end up becoming like the current Fen Juechen. My body will be wracked with intense pain due to the rejection of my soul and within a few short years, my physical body will die once more and my soul will be destroyed.”
Yun Che, “…”
“No…” Yun Che clenched both his fists tightly as he spoke through gritted teeth, his expression colored with discontent, “It was so hard for us to even find a clue regarding the Netherworld Udumbara Flower… and now it is right in front of us. It is so close to being in full bloom as well…”
“If we miss this chance, the next time it will bloom will be an entire twenty-four years later… Furthermore, we will only be able to enter this Moon Slaughter Devil Nest five hundred years later…”
How could he let go of this Netherworld Udumbara Flower that they had spent seven whole years to find!
“Yun Che, you better listen up and listen good!” Jasmine said gravely, “I desire to obtain a fully bloomed Netherworld Udumbara Flower more than anyone else! But right now, even if there was a fully bloomed Netherworld Udumbara Flower before our eyes, much less this half-bloomed one, we would still not be able to obtain it! Right now, what you need to do is to leave this place quickly!”
“…Why?” Yun Che did not understand and he made no move to retreat as well… he could hear the discontent in Jasmine’s voice and he was just as discontented as well!
“This place is terrifying beyond the boundaries of what you can imagine!” Even though the intensity of the darkness energy in this place is extremely weak, but the level of this darkness energy is so high that even I have never seen it before. If my body and soul were whole, the darkness energy in this place would not be able to affect me in the least, but right now, I only have a spirit body. I don’t have a physical body to anchor me so I have no way of keeping darkness energy of this level from eating away at my existence! If I were to materialize my spirit body in this place, I would suffer very serious injuries in a matter of minutes and even my soul origin would receive extreme damage!”
Yun Che, “…”
“My spirit body was being eroded by that devilish poison for many years and it’s only now that I have completely escaped from its clutches. But I am still many times weaker than I would be in my complete state! I will only slowly regain my true strength after my body has been reconstituted. But if my current spirit body is eroded by darkness energy again… the consequence is that I will not be able to ever fully recover! And my spirit may even end up dissipating forever!!”
Every single word that came from Jasmine’s mouth was extremely heavy and they rooted Yun Che in place.
“So even if that was a Netherworld Udumbara Flower in full bloom, I would also not be able to materialize and harvest it. It is even more impossible for you to do it.” Jasmine’s tone grew more serious by the second, “I am not exaggerating anything in the least! For darkness energy of this level to be continuously released for the past ten thousand years, there must be something that is far more terrifying than anything that you could think of that is hiding in this Moon Slaughter Devil Nest! Even though I am in the Sky Poison Pearl right now, I can still feel my spine tingle in a way that it never has before. Even my spirit perception has been suppressed to a certain…”
Jasmine suddenly stopped talking, causing Yun Che’s heart to skip a beat. Then she started shouting sternly, “Hurry up and leave!! There is a living creature hiding somewhere above the Netherworld Udumbara Flower… and it is looking at you right now! Flee immediately!”
“What?” A jolt of shock raced through Yun Che’s heart and he unwittingly raised his head to look at the ceiling above the Netherworld Udumbara Flower but all he could see was inky darkness.
At this moment, Zi Ji howled at him from behind, “Yun Che! What are you doing!? You only have thirty breaths left, if you don’t hurry up, you won’t be able to make it!”
Yun Che did not have time to hesitate any further, he quickly turned around and yelled, “We’re getting out of here!”
“But that Netherworld Udumbara Flower…” Xia Yuanba said as he hesitated for a moment. Because the purple light was still shining and that meant that Yun Che had not been able to successfully obtain the flower.
“Don’t worry about it, let’s hurry up and leave!!” Yun Che shoved Yuanba a long way towards the exit with his palm. He grabbed Feng Xue’er’s hand tightly and he used the light of the Phoenix flames to guide him as he rushed towards the exit at the fastest speed possible.
“Is that ‘monster’ following us?” Yun Che asked anxiously. Because they had just travelled down to his path to reach the deepest part of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, they were familiar with it, so they fled at a much greater speed than when they had arrived.
“No, it isn’t”. Jasmine replied.
“…” Yun Che let out a small sigh of relief as a thought flashed through his mind: A living creature that is hiding within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. Could this be the legendary Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign?
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign should have died more than six thousand years ago. It was not possible for a Tyrant Profound beast to survive for ten thousand years!
Furthermore, the urgency in Jasmine’s voice told him that the monster hidden in the darkness was a creature that was too strong for him to fight… So it would definitely not be the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign which was only at the Tyrant Profound Realm.
Just what was it!?
“What kind of monster is it? Do you have any insight as to what it’s power level is?” Yun Che asked.
“It is far bigger than a normal human. And as for its strength… it should roughly be at the sixth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm! The caveat being that my suppressed spirit perception might not have captured its power level correctly!” Jasmine said in a doubtful voice.
The sixth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm… Yun Che increased his speed yet again as a complicated light flashed in his eyes.
“We still have ten breaths worth of time left. Don’t worry, we’ll make it.” Zi Ji said as his voice grew more relieved but his heart was still shaking with adrenaline and fear… When he had spoken to the Sovereign of the Seas, he had told her that he would yank Yun Che out of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest once fifty breaths had passed. He never would have thought that they would be in this desperate situation. If they were not able to leave this place within one hundred breaths, the four of them would all die in this place.
“It’s just that Brother-in-law was not able to obtain the Netherworld Udumbara Flower.” Xia Yuanba said in a somewhat disconsolate voice.
“That was to be expected. Given how terrifying the Netherworld Udumbara Flower is, even if the Four Sacred Masters were to join hands to obtain one, they would definitely not be able to survive the attempt.” Zi Ji said as he sighed. Even though Yun Che’s objective had not been fulfilled, Supreme Ocean Palace had lived up to its end of the bargain.
Just a few breaths before the opening in the barrier closed, the four companions finally saw a hazy glimmer of light appear in front of them.
“We’re at the exit, let’s hurry up and get out of here!” Zi Ji, who was the furthest ahead, yelled as his figure blurred and he dashed towards the exit.
“Brother-in-law, hurry!” Xia Yuanba yelled, he was hot on Zi Ji’s heels and the moment he exited the barrier, he turned around, fearing that Yun Che was lagging behind.
The exit was right in front of them and once they left, Yun Che would only be able to enter this place again five hundred years from now at the minimum.
Even if he managed to enter five hundred years later, there were no guarantees that they would be able to find a Netherworld Udumbara Flower like they had today.
Yun Che began to slow down. He used both hands to give a mighty shove to Feng Xue’er’s shoulder, flinging her far out of the opening of the barrier. Then, he stopped right at the opening itself.
“Yun Che! What are you doing… hurry up and get out!” Jasmine had guessed his intentions in a second and her small face immediately went pale.
“Brother-in-law!!”
“Big Brother Yun!!”
One breath later, Yun Che still had not emerged from the opening made in the barrier. Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue’er both realized that something was wrong at the same time. Xia Yuanba’s expression changed dramatically while Feng Xue’er’s pretty face lost all of its color as they both rushed towards the opening at the same time.
“Don’t worry about me!” Yun Che roared as he pushed both his arms out at full strength towards the opening. He blew the nearby Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue’er, neither of whom could react fast enough to defend themselves, at least three hundred meters away.
“I am going to wait for the Netherworld Udumbara Flower to reach full bloom, so I’m going to have to stay here for a few days… Don’t worry about me, don’t forget that I have that ‘profound ark’!”
“Big Brother Yun…NO!!!” Feng Xue’er’s teary cry could be heard from outside the barrier.
“Hurry up and leave!!!” Jasmine yelled with such anxiety and fury that it caused Yun Che’s heart and soul to quake, “The laws of space in this area have long ago been distorted by the darkness energy, even the Primordial Profound Ark…”
Ssssss!!!
With a sizzling pop that sounded like the discharge of lightning, the opening in the barrier that had lasted for one hundred breaths instantly snapped shut. The entire barrier glowed with a flowing blue light which blended with the barrier. Not even a small scratch could be seen on it presently, much less an opening, as it completely and perfectly separated what was inside the barrier from the outside world.
——————————————————
Chapter 775 - Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign (1)
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
Amidst ear-shattering explosions, continuously exploding Phoenix flames had dyed a large swathe of the sky and sea a startling crimson. As those frenzied flames fell from the sky, the small islets that came into contact with them immediately turned to magma.
The dreadful sounds and power being displayed had long ago alerted Supreme Ocean Palace but the Phoenix flames continued to wreak havoc with no signs of stopping and they kept growing hotter and wilder with each passing minute.
“Princess Snow, please stop! This barrier can’t be forcibly blasted open! Even if the Four Sacred Masters were to join hands, they would also not be able to do so!!”
Zi Ji was also at the eighth stage of the Sovereign Profound Realm. But when he faced these terrifyingly powerful divine flames, he also had no choice but to keep his distance, he even had to keep retreating.
“Big Brother Yun… BIG BROTHER YUN!!!” In front of the barrier sealing the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, Feng Xue’er screamed as she crazily hurled phoenix fire. But no matter how the Phoenix flames assaulted the barrier, not a single scratch was formed on it. It did not even quiver in the slightest and it would only give out threads of rippling light every now and then.
“Little Sister Xue’er, you need to stop at once!!”
Xia Yuanba had also been forced to keep his distance. He had wanted to approach Xue’er many times but her Phoenix flames were simply too dreadful. In the blink of an eye, he had already been blown half a kilometer away by those Phoenix flames. He could only howl helplessly and anxiously but no matter how he and Zi Ji tried to counsel Feng Xue’er, they simply could not get through to her.
At this moment, the Phoenix flames suddenly stopped and the firelight that had shrouded the entire island began to wane. Xia Yuanba thought that Feng Xue’er had started to come to her senses but just as he was about to advance… An enormous and extremely glaring fire lotus gorgeously bloomed around Feng Xue’er.
Boom!!!!
An all-encompassing wave of heat assaulted Zi Ji and Xia Yuanba. They both felt a pressure on their chests, as if they had been smashed by a giant hammer that had come from the depths of a fiery purgatory. They fiercely shot backwards and their clothes and hair started to burn.
This was a Star Scorching Demon Lotus performed with all of Feng Xue’er’s might and it was also the strongest attack that the Phoenix flames could display on this world! It was more than ten times stronger than the strongest Phoenix flames that Yun Che could produce.
“Little Sister Xue’er… hurry up… and stop!!”
Xia Yuanba’s cries were now tinged with pain. He retreated at full speed. His body felt like it was being wrapped in purgatorial flames as every inch of skin was being burned to the point where the pain was unbearable. It was a long time before the burning sensation finally subsided to a level he could endure. He anxiously extinguished the flames burning on his body as he began to noisily gasp for air. Every single breath that he expelled from his chest was boiling hot.
The Phoenix flames that had been raging for a long time finally began to die down as their light swiftly receded. Xia Yuanba took ragged gasps as he desperately sought to regain his composure. It was only then that he discovered that he had been blasted five kilometers away from the island that the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was located in.
Even though he had seen Yun Che use his Phoenix flames before, he had never once seen Feng Xue’er in action. It was only now that he came to the startling realization that this girl, who was as beautiful as fairy and who would tenderly and gently call him “Bulky Big Brother” was actually extremely terrifying!
On the other side, even though Zi Ji had not been pushed as far as Xia Yuanba, the trembling of his pupils were no less intense than Xia Yuanba’s… His profound strength was the same as Feng Xue’er’s, both of them were at the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm. And when it came down to it, he was still slightly stronger than her. But right now, he was utterly convinced that if he were to face Feng Xue’er in battle, he would definitely eat a loss!
The eighth stage of the Sovereign Profound Realm coupled with the purest Phoenix bloodline and Phoenix flames; it was a power that was definitely able to match the profound practitioners of the Four Great Sacred Grounds who were at the ninth stage of the Sovereign Profound Realm!
The light of the flames had completely dissipated but the sea breeze was still boiling hot. It was just that the original island had completely disappeared and the only thing that was left was an enormous ocean-blue barrier shimmering on top of the sea as it sealed off the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest from the rest of the world. The island that had existed outside the barrier had been completely obliterated by Feng Xue’er’s Star Scorching Demon Lotus.
“Why did it turn out like this… Big Brother Yun… Big Brother Yun…”
Feng Xue’er floated above the barrier all alone, her shoulders faintly shaking. She stared at unharmed blue barrier dumbly, her eyes filled with misery and heartbreaking words spilling from her lips.
“Little Sister Xue’er, don’t be too worried.” Xia Yuanba said as he quickly flew to her side. His appearance was quite pathetic, his face and his entire body had been burnt black, his clothes were dotted with innumerable holes due to the flames, and even half of his eyebrows had been singed off. However he bore no resentment towards Feng Xue’er. Instead he now liked her even more… Because she had fallen apart on behalf of Yun Che.
“Brother-in-law is a very clever person… Since he chose to remain inside that place, he definitely has an objective he needs to fulfill and also a method of escape.” Xia Yuanba said as he tried to comfort Feng Xue’er. But his own palms were soaked in cold sweat and he was so anxious that he felt like his heart was about to burn to cinders.
“But… that place is so dangerous. Senior Zi also said that if someone were to be trapped inside there, that person would… that person would…” Feng Xue’er sobbed, her voice quivering with barely restrained weeping.
“Don’t worry, it will be alright.” Xia Yuanba did his best to remain calm and comfort Xue’er, “Brother-in-law was the one who made the decision to remain in that place, he wasn’t forcibly imprisoned within. So he definitely must be confident that he can get out. Between Brother-in-law and Zi Ji, the one you should trust is definitely Brother-in-law! Just now Brother-in-law himself said that he would be out in a few days. Moreover…”
Xia Yuanba quietly ascertained where Zi Ji was standing before concentrating his profound energy and sending a sound transmission to Xue’er, “Don’t forget, Brother-in-law still has the Primordial Profound Ark and he can teleport tens of thousands of kilometers in the blink of an eye. So it should be a simple matter… for him to escape from that place.”
The three words “Primordial Profound Ark” caused Feng Xue’er’s teary eyes to immediately sparkle prettily. Xia Yuanba’s words was not an empty consolation and it helped her confused and frightened heart regain a semblance of calm.
“I also think that there is no need to worry too much.” Zi Ji flew over from afar. Even though his body was scorched all over, his calm and tranquil attitude remained, “Even though I am convinced that absolutely nobody on this earth can break this barrier, do not forget that Yun Che’s master is an expert who has transcended this world. He was able to bring Yun Che back from the Primordial Profound Ark all those years ago, so breaking out of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest should be as easy as waving his hand.”
“Yes, yes, yes, that is definitely the case.” Xia Yuanba quickly went along with Zi Ji as he nodded his head vigorously. But his anxiety was not eased in the least… because he was extremely clear that Yun Che’s so-called “master” was fake.
“What just happened!?”
A stern voice echoed from the distant north and at the same time, they could feel a energy wave pressing in from afar. Both the tone and the actions of the approaching person were fraught with anxiety.
Xia Yuanba turned around and saw a blue-robed man flying over at an astonishing speed. Behind him, thirty meter high waves were roaring in his wake as the sea had been agitated by the profound energy he was releasing. And far behind that blue-robed man trailed four people who were all clothed in red.
“Supreme Ocean Palace’s great elder Mo Chenfeng!” Xia Yuanba blurted out in surprise.
The four red-clothed people trailing behind him rooted Feng Xue’er in place for a while. But after that she excitedly took flight as she went to meet them, “Royal father, Grandfather, Crown Prince, and… Great Grandfather!?”
As they saw Xue’er come to welcome them, the four red-clothed men also slowed to a halt, their faces showing their great excitement at seeing her again. Feng Hengkong cried out emotionally, “It’s Xue’er… It’s really Xue’er!”
Feng Xue’er had just used the full power of her Phoenix flames to assault the barrier and in doing so, she had radiated an overly strong Phoenix aura that spread out over fifty kilometers. This had startled the members of the Divine Phoenix Sect who were currently staying in Supreme Ocean Palace. The only person in this world who was able to release such a refined and pure Phoenix aura was Feng Xue’er!
At that point, all four of them dropped everything else and flew towards the south at full speed. Now they had once again been reunited with the Feng Xue’er, who had left the Divine Phoenix Sect for several months already.
“Great Grandfather?” After hearing Feng Xue’er’s cry of surprise, Xia Yuanba’s gaze immediately fell on the red-clothed man who stood on the extreme right. He had a head full of white hair and his face was as ruddy as scarlet flames. But his eyes seemed to be two burning flames and just meeting them caused Xia Yuanba’s eyes to feel a burning sensation.
Little Sister Xue’er’s great grandfather… Oh that was right! It was the man whom master called the number one person in the entire Divine Phoenix Sect… Feng Zukui!!
Xia Yuanba had heard Spiritual Master Ancient Blue personally mention this person before. He had said that Feng Zukui’s profound strength was already at the ninth stage of the Sovereign Profound Realm one hundred years ago and because of his intimacy with the Phoenix flame, his overall strength was even higher than Spiritual Master Ancient Blue!
Outside of the Four Great Sacred Grounds, he was also the undisputed number one person in the Profound Sky Continent!
Feng Zukui very rarely appeared anymore and even among the Divine Phoenix disciples, very few of them had personally seen him before. But it was not surprising to see him attending this Devil Sword Conference.
“Mister Zi, what happened here?”
There was only that blue barrier below which was still shining on the surface of the sea, all the other islets and the island itself had disappeared without a trace. Mo Chenfeng’s brows twitched violently as his face was colored with shock.
Zi Ji made a small gesture before saying, “We didn’t meet any great enemy. It is only that Yun Che is still stuck inside the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.”
“What!?” Mo Chenfeng gasped in astonishment.
“However, it wasn’t because he couldn’t make out it in time. Rather, he chose to remain inside. Zi Ji said, “And after hearing what he said, it seemed like he was unable to harvest the Netherworld Udumbara Flower because it had not reached full bloom yet. He decided to remain inside so that he could wait for it to fully bloom.”
“This…” Mo Chenfeng’s face twitched before he said in a deep voice, “This is the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest we are talking about. If one is sealed inside, the only thing awaiting that person is death! The Sovereign of the Seas has personally said that even she would not be able to last in that place for more than six hours! For him to decide to remain inside there… it’s no different from digging his own grave!!”
Zi Ji shook his head in disagreement, “If it was any other person, that would most certainly be the case. But Yun Che was able to return alive from the Primordial Profound Ark. Furthermore, even though he is a haughty man, he is not so arrogant as to gamble his own life by underestimating the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.”
He turned around and faced the barrier surrounding the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest before calmly continuing, “Right now, I am actually very curious to see whether he will really be able to survive for long within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. And whether he will be able to escape this isolation barrier… Also whether he will be able to successfully obtain the Netherworld Udumbara Flower that nobody has ever approached and lived!”
Mo Chenfeng fell silent.
“However, my anticipation will only continue until this time tomorrow.” Zi Ji said, “Yun Che’s ‘master’ may have the ability to transcend the heavens but Yun Che’s strength falls slightly short of the mid stages of the Sovereign Profound Realm and his vitality is far below even that. In a place where even the Sovereign of the Seas is not able to survive for six hours… If he is not brought out by his ‘master’ within a day, then it is impossible that he will still be alive. At which time, that ‘master’ of his either does not know of his predicament or simply doesn’t exist in the first place.”
“Mister Zi has indeed reminded me of something. The laws of space within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest are very different from the laws of space here. Among these differences is the fact that all Sound Transmission Jade and spatial profound artifacts will be rendered useless in there. If Yun Che’s trump card is to use a sound transmission to get his ‘master’ to save him or to use a spatial profound artifact to escape this place, then he has truly dug his own grave this time.” Mo Chenfeng said in a relaxed voice.
“…” Zi Ji’s brows sank by several degrees and his originally calm face was now creased by uncertainty and pity, “In short, we should return to the Ocean Palace first so we can make our report to the Sovereign of the Seas. We need to devote all our efforts to getting ready for the Devil Sword Conference. We can’t afford to be distracted by anything else.”
“Yes.” Mo Chenfeng said as he nodded his head as he turned around to leave. It was not important that the island that the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was located on was destroyed. Because the barrier sealing the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was absolutely impregnable and indestructible.
“Xue’er, why are you here?” Feng Hengkong asked in both concern and agitation. The three people that had come with him were Feng Ximing, Feng Tianwei, and last but not least… Feng Zukui!
“Xue’er, you… have you been well? During the past few months you spent in the Blue Wind Nation, has anyone… especially that bastard Yun Che, bullied you!?” Feng Ximing asked anxiously. As he said this, both of his hands were trembling, his face had gone completely red and his eyes were tightly locked onto Xue’er. He was so agitated that he looked like he was going to lose control of himself.
“I came together with Big Brother Yun. I did not inform Royal Father because I was not sure if Big Brother Yun would bring me along. Great Grandfather, you actually came as well, Xuer’er has already… not seen you for the longest time now.” Feng Xue’er bowed gently towards Feng Zukui.
“On the other hand, during the three years that Xue’er was unconscious, I went to see Xue’er many times.” Upon seeing Feng Xue’er, Feng Zukui’s mood had become extremely good. A weak and shallow smile suddenly appeared on his calm and imposing face. After he gave Feng Xue’er a few deep and measured looks, the red light in his eyes immediately gleamed even brighter and the smile on his face grew deeper as well. He nodded his head heavily as he sighed, “Xue’er, you are truly the precious gem of our entire clan. In just a few short years, your Phoenix profound strength has actually exceeded your own father and grandfather. Perhaps by this time next year, even this old fogey will be left in your dust! Hahahahahaha!”
Feng Zukui threw his head back in laughter and everyone could hear the immense elation and joy contained in that great laugh. From the moment Feng Hengkong could walk and talk, he had only seen Feng Zukui laugh four times and every single time he had laughed, it was because of Feng Xue’er. This time, his laughter was far more joyous and jubilant than it had been on any of the previous occasions. He took a step forward and bowed as he said, “Grandfather, it has to be said that Xue’er’s transformation is truly thanks to that Yun Che. Three years ago, Yun Che had imparted the fifth and sixth stages of the ‘World Ode of the Phoenix’ to Xue’er on the Primordial Profound Ark. This event allowed Xue’er to attain a true mastery of her Phoenix flames and also caused her strength to soar.”
“Even though Yun Che brought a great calamity down on our heads a few months ago, he has always been sincere towards Xue’er. And Xue’er even owes him her current powers and her very life…” Feng Hengkong shut his eyes before saying, “Therefore, during these few months, the burning desire to avenge my sons… is something that I am more than willing to forego. I have no desire to pursue vengeance on behalf of the other two grand elders either.”
Feng Tianwei’s gaze swept across the surrounding area and he said with furrowed brows, “Xue’er, you said that you came here with Yun Che. Why are you here by yourself right now?”
These words caused Xue’er’s delicate body to faintly tremble as two tears instantly fell from her beautiful eyes. Even though Yun Che was the person that she trusted the most in this world, and even though she knew about the existence of the Primordial Profound Ark… she could not quell the intense fear and worry that gnawed at her soul.
Feng Hengkong and the two other elders were immediately struck dumb. Feng Ximing, on the other hand, practically jumped up in anger, the hair on his head standing on end and his features warping as a bestial snarl tore from his throat, “Did… did he bully you! Did he… he… where the hell is he right now!? Bastard! Beast! I will kill him… I will rip him to shreds!!”
Feng Hengkong glared at Feng Ximing fiercely before he asked Xue’er in a low voice, “Xue’er, what exactly happened here?”
Xue’er bit her trembling lips and it was only after a long while that she could finally speak in a grief-stricken voice, “Big Brother Yun, he… he is trapped inside the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.”
“What!?” Feng Tianwei’s and Feng Hengkong’s faces immediately lost all color. Feng Ximing was taken aback as well but his face immediately twisted into an expression of undisguisable jubilation.
The existence of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was known to only one other sect besides the Four Great Sacred Grounds… and that sect was the Divine Phoenix Sect.
“There is no need to be so worried.” Feng Zukui’s expression remained calm as he spoke, “I just heard the discussion between Supreme Ocean Palace’s Mister Zi and great elder Chen Mo Feng. Yun Che seems to have chosen to stay behind, so he definitely has confidence that he can escape. Furthermore his master is the legendary ‘Old Man Duotian’ who has the ability to transcend the heavens. So being sealed within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest may not end in his death.”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Feng Xue’er’s tears stabbed into Feng Hengkong’s heart like needles, so he hurriedly nodded his head in agreement as he said, “Your great grandfather is completely right! If anyone else was trapped in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, it would indeed spell their doom! But Yun Che is different! Even the Primordial Profound Ark couldn’t contain him all those years back. You should follow your royal father back to the Ocean Palace first and maybe by the time you wake up tomorrow, he will already be out of this place.”
Feng Xue’er raised a jade hand as she wiped away the tears from her snowy face. She softly said, “I know… I believe more than anyone else that Big Brother Yun will definitely… definitely come out of there in one piece. So, I will wait here for Big Brother Yun. Great Grandfather, Grandfather, Royal Father, Crown Prince Brother, Xue’er is alright. All of you should return to the Ocean Palace first. Xue’er will immediately come and see you all once Big Brother Yun returns.”
“Ssss…” Feng Xue’er’s words and the resolute expression on his face caused Feng Ximing’s smooth face to once again warp in anger as he clenched both his fist tightly and viciously murmured under his breath: Yun Cheeeee! Go down to the eighteen layers of hell within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest! Die! Die! DIEEEEEEE!!!!
“Xue’er…”
“You don’t need to advise her any further.” Xia Yuanba walked over as he said with a serious expression on his face, “No matter what you say, she will definitely not leave this place right now. Return to the Ocean Palace first, I will wait here with her. And once she has regained some of her composure, I will advise her to return as well.”
“This man is Xia Yuanba, Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s disciple who possesses the legendary Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins! He is Yun Che’s brother-in-law.” Feng Hengkong sent a sound transmission to both Feng Tianwei and Feng Zukui.
The look in both Feng Tianwei’s and Feng Zukui’s eyes changed drastically once they heard those words.
Feng Hengkong knitted his brows before he let out a soft sigh, “Since that is the case… Xue’er, we will be waiting at the Flame Heart Palace that is located in the northwest part of the Ocean Palace. If anything happens, you must definitely send a sound transmission to inform us… No matter how anxious and worried you are, your royal father will be even more worried and anxious than you. No matter what, don’t be too headstrong and put too many burdens on yourself.”
Feng Xue’er’s eyes grew misty as she said, “Royal Father…”
“Royal Father, this place is still Supreme Ocean Palace, so how can we leave Xue’er here all by herself? I request that Royal Father allow this son to stay behind to accompany…”
“Shut your mouth!”
Before Feng Ximing could even finish what he was saying, he was sternly cut off by Feng Hengkong. He did not spare Feng Ximing another glance as he turned towards Feng Tianwei and Feng Zukui, “Royal Father, Grandfather, let us leave this place for now. If we remain, it will be harder for Xue’er to calm down.
The four people of the Divine Phoenix Sect departed and Zi Ji left along with them. Only Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue’er were left in the now quiet ocean region. They mutely stared at the blue-colored barrier, neither of them speaking a single sword for a long time.
“Brother-in-law, you will definitely be alright!” Xia Yuanba tightly clenched a fist as he murmured these words over and over again in his head.
“Big Brother Yun, Xue’er will wait here for your safe return.” Feng Xue’er placed both hands on her chest and she closed her beautiful eyes, her snowy lips softly whispering, “If Big Brother Yun does not return in a day, then Xue’er will wait a day. If you don’t return in a year, then Xue’er will wait a year… If… if Big Brother Yun never returns, then Xue’er will remain in this place forever… so that I can accompany Big Brother Yun here forever…”
Chapter 776 - Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign (2)
The sealed Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was blanketed in inky darkness.
For the first time in his life, Yun Che experienced what true darkness was. The world he was trapped in seemed like a bottomless abyss; there was not a single trace of light or life. In this world of absolute darkness, he could not see anything else, he did not even know where he was and what direction he was facing. His mind was under a lot of pressure and he started to feel a little dizzy.
“Yun Che… Do you know what you’ve just done!” Jasmine yelled through gritted teeth as her voice echoed in Yun Che’s mind.
“Of course I know.” Yun Che replied as he took a deep breath, trying his best to compose himself. Within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, even drawing breath was several times more difficult than it was normally.
“I had already told you very clearly, there isn’t any way that I can materialize to go harvest the Netherworld Udumbara Flower in this place. And I was even more clear about the fact that there was no way that you could do it with your current ability. You won’t even be able to go anywhere near it, you…”
“I know.” Yun Che said with a somber expression on his face, “I will definitely not question what you have told me. But we have already looked for the Netherworld Udumbara Flower for a whole seven years! And during these seven years, whether it was in the Profound Sky Continent or the Illusory Demon Realm, we have not been able to find even a clue regarding it. Now there is one that is growing in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest and it is extremely likely that it is the only Netherworld Udumbara Flower in this world! Furthermore, it is right on the brink of fully blooming… so how can you expect me to just give up on it like that!”
“When I saw this Netherworld Udumbara Flower, I had an powerful feeling that if we left like this, we might never see a second Netherworld Udumbara Flower in our lives ever again. Which also means that you will never be able to obtain a new body.” Yun Che said solemnly, “Furthermore… furthermore, truth be told, I’m not too afraid of that Netherworld Udumbara Flower. Just now, even though it was able to enthrall me briefly once I entered within a hundred meters of it, the moment I concentrated I was able to break out of its spell. My condition was far less serious than Xue’er and the others. This should be related to the fact that I possess the Dragon God Soul… and if my Dragon God Soul is fully unleashed, it should be very possible for me to resist its ability to steal one’s soul. At the very least, let me try it out.”
“Foolishness!” Jasmine said sharply, “Do you know how big a difference there is between a Netherworld Udumbara Flower that has fully bloomed and one that has not? Once a Netherworld Udumbara Flower reaches full bloom, its ability to steal your soul will grow at least ten times stronger!
“…” Yun Che stammered out in a stunned voice, “Te… ten times!?”
“For the past seven years, since I mentioned the Netherworld Udumbara Flower until now, I have always asked you to locate one but I have never ever once asked you to actually go obtain one. It is not something that a person from this plane, such as you, can even come into contact with!” Jasmine’s voice was filled with fury and Yun Che could well imagine that she was so shocked, upset and frustrated that she could barely contain the desire to smack him so hard that he flew tens of kilometers.
“Are you thinking that if you aren’t able to succeed, you will be able to escape using the Primordial Profound Ark? If you are, then you are truly naive! Having to endure more than ten thousand years of darkness energy which is of such a high quality slowly eating away at it, the laws of space in this place have long since been distorted! You will barely even be able to use the Primordial Profound Ark to move around in this Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, much less use it to leave this place!”
Yun Che, “…”
“Also, I clearly just warned you that there was a living creature hiding in this place! It’s strength is at least at the sixth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm! Furthermore, to be able to survive in such a dark environment, it is very likely going to be an extremely evil creature! Perhaps you will die under the claws of this foul beast before you can even approach the Netherworld Udumbara Flower! And even if you wanted to flee at that moment, you wouldn’t be able to!”
“You’ve basically made your own grave! And this is a grave that even I can’t dig you out of!” Jasmine yelled in fury.
“Heh heh.” At this moment, Yun Che suddenly let out a small laugh.
“…To think that you are actually able to laugh right now.” Jasmine said in an exasperated voice.
Yun Che faintly smiled as he said, “I just suddenly thought of the many times you’ve scolded me because I always risked my life for women. Every single time, I gave you the same reply. If it was for you, I would also be willing to throw my life away. But you’ve never once believed me. However, now that we’ve reached this point, are you starting to believe those words?”
“You…” Jasmine’s voice ground to a halt immediately.
“Jasmine, you’ve given far too much already. On the other hand, I have never really been able to do anything for you. Even cleansing that devilish poison from your body was only possible due to the existence of the Sky Poison Pearl. I have never ever needed to give up anything or pay any price. Right now, this Netherworld Udumbara Flower may be the only hope of you getting a new body. So even if the risk was ten times greater and the chance of success was ten times lower, I would still choose to stay behind.”
Jasmine, “…”
“Moreover, I was not being completely reckless when I chose to stay behind. I had already carefully weighed the pros and cons in my mind. Our situation is far less dire than you made it out to be. Even though the Dragon God Soul in my body has already become a part of my own soul, because my spirit power is too weak, even I am not able to tell just how strong it actually is. Therefore, it is impossible for you to know either, Jasmine. If my will is resolute enough and I am able to draw out even more of the Dragon God Soul’s soul power, approaching the Netherworld Udumbara Flower is not an impossibility!”
“And even if that living creature that is hidden in the darkness is an evil beast, if it is at the sixth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, it isn’t impossible for me to beat it either. Two months ago, Fen Juechen had around the same level of strength. In the end, not only did I manage to beat him, it was a complete victory!” Yun Che said in a voice that was brimming with confidence as his eyes widened in the darkness.
“…” Jasmine remained silent for a while before viciously spitting out a response, “IDIOT! The reason why you were able to beat Fen Juechen was entirely because of Hong’er! You really thought that the present you could be a sixth stage Monarch!?”
“Because of… Hong’er?” Yun Che asked in a stunned voice.
“Forget it.” Jasmine said as she gave a faint sigh, “Now that things have reached this point, it would be useless even if I scolded you another ten thousand times. If that foul beast can survive in such an environment, then it means that it must be a creature of the darkness element, so it should also be vulnerable to Hong’er just like Fen Juechen was. If that is the case, then you might have the ability to face it in open combat… but it isn’t a sure thing! Right now, the first thing you need to do is to get accustomed to this environment so you can remain in your peak state indefinitely!”
Jasmine’s tone remained stern but she had subconsciously softened it already. Though she still felt that Yun Che choosing to remain in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest to wait for the Netherworld Udumbara Flower to bloom fully was the stupidest and most reckless thing he could do, that it was akin to digging his own grave, it had all been because of her this time around… completely because of her.
Moreover, this was a man that she had spent the most time with in her life, the man whom she understood the most. From start to finish, he had always been this kind of person…
“When you’re in this place, do you feel a weight on your chest, do you start feeling dizzy and does it get harder for you to breathe?” Jasmine asked with surety in her voice.
Yun Che nodded his head, “Yes. Furthermore, these sensations are far more intense now than when I had first entered this place. Darkness energy is able to devour one’s life force and soul, so the sensations that I am feeling right now should be considered quite normal.”
“Hmph! The only reason why you are able to maintain your present state is because your life force far exceeds that of a normal person. If it was a normal Emperor Profound Realm practitioner, he would have lost all the strength in his body and he would be teetering on the state of unconsciousness after one hundred breaths. But even with your life force, you still won’t be able to hold out in this place for too long. In two hours, you will…” Jasmine’s voice suddenly stopped and when she spoke again, her voice had become neutral and emotionless, “It looks like I don’t need to remind you about this after all. If you dared to stay behind, then you’ve definitely thought of this as well.”
“That’s only natural.” Yun Che said as he stuck out his chest, “The origin of energy in this world is the energy of heaven and earth and darkness energy is naturally also no exception. The Great Way of the Buddha could even absorb and transform the energy from the spatial storm within the Primordial Profound Ark into vitality for my body, much less the fire element found in the Sea of Death. So it stands to reason that the darkness energy in this place can be absorbed as well! The richer and denser an element is in one place, the stronger the ability of the Great Way of the Buddha to absorb and transform said element into vitality for my body. So it can definitely cancel out or maybe even exceed the rate at which my life force is being eroded by the darkness energy in this place.”
Yun Che’s brows twitched as he suddenly asked a question, “The level of the darkness energy in this place truly surpasses your level as well? You said that you would not be able to stop it from devouring your spirit body but why do I not find it quite so terrible? In fact, I think that it is far weaker than the spatial storm I had to face in the Primordial Profound Ark! When I had to endure the spatial storms within the Primordial Profound Ark, if I just relaxed for a few breaths, I would be deader than dead. But in this place, even if I do not activate the Great Way of the Buddha, I can still hold out for a long period of time.”
“Hmph, didn’t I say this just now. The level of the darkness energy is extremely high but its intensity is extremely weak. The darkness energy here is akin to the profound energy being released by a Sovereign whose profound strength is exhausted, whose life has withered away and who is on the brink of death. So even though the profound energy being released is still at the level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, it is so weak that it would not even be able to kill a True Profound Realm practitioner.” Jasmine said as her voice grew serious once more, “But what worries me the most is that this darkness energy is still clearly in an active state, it has not lain dormant.”
“…What is that supposed to mean?” Yun Che asked.
“It means that this darkness energy is clearly being constantly released from some place. Furthermore, despite the fact that it has been unable to spread due to being completely sealed in this place, it still remains so thin even after ten thousand years have passed… It is highly likely that some dreadful thing that is hidden in this place has been releasing this high level of darkness energy while some other thing has been steadily absorbing this darkness energy! If not, why would the darkness energy in this place still be so thin despite this place being sealed away for ten thousand years and why is the darkness energy still in an active state!?”
“Otherwise, given the level of the darkness energy here, if it were to get dense enough, it is not something that Supreme Ocean Palace’s barrier could seal away!”
Jasmine’s words sent a fierce jolt through Yun Che’s body. After that, he asked in a low voice, “Could it be… that it is the darkness-element Profound beast that has been hiding in here along?”
“Compared to a mere Monarch level darkness profound beast, I am much more curious about what exactly could be releasing this level of darkness energy!” Jasmine said in a somber tone, “Since we are already sealed in this place, we might as well find out what kind of mysteries are hiding in this place!”
“Just based on this bizarrely high level of darkness energy, the thing that is hidden in this place is far more dreadful and complex than what Supreme Ocean Palace thinks it is!”
Jasmine’s words caused the whole atmosphere of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest to abruptly change for Yun Che.
Something whose level surpasses Jasmine and something that Jasmine called “dreadful”… just what could it be!?
But all of these things were secondary to him right now. What he needed to do first was to get accustomed to this environment. After that… he would use all of his strength to obtain that Netherworld Udumbara Flower that was almost within reach, no matter what the cost.
Within the darkness, Yun Che sat down, calmed his mind and focused his heart. The Great Way of the Buddha circulated slowly at first, but after that, it began to circulate faster. All fifty four of his profound entrances began to gradually open up along with the pores on his body. A thread of extremely refined and pure energy of heaven and earth began to flow into his body like a cool stream, becoming part of his strength and his life force.
A faint gold pagoda hazily appeared over Yun Che’s head as it began to slowly revolve in place.
In this world that was filled with darkness energy, his life force and profound energy was being swiftly chipped away and even his soul was under assault. At the same time, the Great Way of the Buddha drew out the energy of heaven and earth that was far purer than normal from this darkness energy and it swiftly recovered both his vitality and his profound energy… Gradually, as the golden colored pagoda soundlessly spun, the rate of erosion and recovery easily balanced each other out.
Yun Che opened his eyes… All of this was proceeding far more smoothly than he had expected.
As such, he could now survive in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, a place that would cause all who knew of it to blanche just at the sound of its name, for a sufficiently long period of time.
After Yun Che stood up, he raised an arm. With an explosive pop, violent Golden Crow flames sprang to life on his palm. The Golden Crow flames fought desperately to pierce the incomparably dense darkness and they managed to illuminate an area that was roughly ten paces around Yun Che.
Yun Che began to move slowly towards the deepest parts of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest once more. Given what Jasmine had just said, if the darkness energy in this place was not being absorbed by something and was allowed to build up over time, then it could completely… and easily destroy the sealing barrier that Supreme Ocean Palace boasted was the strongest in the entire continent. But the barrier had lasted for a whole ten millennia, and nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened either…
Could it be because the thing that was hiding in this place… was deliberately maintaining its sealed state!?
As that thought flashed through his mind, Yun Che immediately trembled in fear.
Within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, even Jasmine’s spirit perception was greatly restricted, much less Yun Che’s own spirit perception. As he walked towards the deepest parts of the nest, he could not sense anything else besides the boundless darkness. If not for Jasmine’s warning, he would not even have known about that “living creature” that was hiding within the darkness.
The entrance of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was rather narrow and cramped but the further one went in, the more spacious it got. In the middle segment, the path had already broadened out to an unknown height and width. As Yun Che neared the deepest part of the devil nest, the area the Golden Crow flames could illuminate shrank drastically. And at this time, an extremely bewitching purple light once more appeared before Yun Che’s eyes.
It was the otherworldly purple light of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower!
Chapter 777 - Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign (3)
Yun Che raised the Golden Crow flames a little higher as he averted his gaze from where the Netherworld Udumbara Flower laid. He spoke in a low voice, “Jasmine, where is that monster currently located?”
It was a while before Jasmine finally responded, “It is still right above the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, roughly one hundred meters above it. It hasn’t moved from its previous spot. If my spirit perception isn’t wrong, its gaze is currently locked right onto you!”
“What about its profound strength? Can you confirm that it’s at the sixth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm?” Yun Che asked again.
“…I don’t dare to use too much soul power right now, and my spirit perception is heavily restricted in this place, so I am unable to confirm anything. But at this distance, even if there is a difference between its real and currently measured strength, it shouldn’t be too big of a difference.”
“Good…” Yun Che murmured quietly before sucking in a quick breath. His face grew cold as he raised his head and looked at the spot that was roughly one hundred meters above the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. After that, he spoke in an immeasurably calm voice, “I apologize for disturbing your peace and quiet, Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign!”
“Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign?” Jasmine said in a voice filled with suspicion, “Are you trying to test it?”
“Not completely.” Yun Che replied seriously, “I just have this feeling that it… should be the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign that Zi Ji was talking about! Zi Ji said that it had died more than six thousand years ago. For the last six thousand odd years, the disciples of Supreme Ocean Palace who entered the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest have not found any traces of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. However, when the four of us first entered this place, it was clearly alive but it did not make a move from beginning to end… So it is extremely likely that its death was always an facade!
“Because it did not need die in the first place! As long as it remained hidden here, even if the Four Sacred Masters themselves entered this place, they would still not be able to detect its existence!”
Two pinpricks of deep gray light suddenly sprang to life in the boundless darkness that was hanging over Yun Che’s head.
Those were a pair of immeasurably dreadful eyes! Yun Che felt his body and soul fiercely tremble the instant those eyes opened.
“Foolish human! Was the reason you disregarded your own life to remain in this place to beg this king to personally send you on your way!?”
It was not the least bit bewildered that Yun Che had discovered its existence and its hoarse and raspy voice was filled with a violence and arrogance that caused one’s heart to palpitate.
“…So that is to say that you are indeed the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign that lived here ten thousand years ago?” Yun Che asked as his heart leaped in his chest.
Even though Jasmine had already told him that there was a dreadful monster hiding in this place, upon seeing it himself, his heart was seized by shock and horror. Because its existence was something that even Supreme Ocean Palace, who had been guarding the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, was not aware of!
“Hahahaha!” That dreadful voice erupted in laughter, “This king has only stated his name once to you humans but who would have thought that you would still remember this king’s name after ten thousand years have passed. Even though this king has not seen the light of day for ten thousand years, making a single appearance was enough to plunge you pitiful creatures into an eternal abyss of terror, hahahahaha…”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s voice was extremely unpleasant and Yun Che could barely make out what it was saying. Furthermore, every single word that was uttered from its mouth caused his body to cramp up and its laugh was extremely hard to bear. But the words it uttered had completely admitted to the fact that… it was truly the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign that Supreme Ocean Palace thought was long dead!
That also meant that… it had survived for the past ten thousand years till now!
The strongest Monarchs would have died several times over in the space of ten thousand years, yet it still remained despite a whole ten thousand years having passed!
This lifespan was completely inconsistent with logic and common sense!
And it was far stronger than the Tyrant Profound beast that it was rumored to be!
“To think that it really was this guy!” Yun Che said to Jasmine in a low voice, “It has not passed away despite ten thousand years having gone by, it is definitely some kind of abnormal monster!”
Jasmine, “…”
Yun Che sucked in a quick breath as he regained his composure. He raised his head once more and spoke in a calm voice, “Even though you have never shown yourself in the Profound Sky Continent, the name of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign has never once been forgotten. As for me, I am merely what you termed a pitiful human being. I have no grudge or vendetta against you, so I definitely do not want to become your enemy. I am here only for the sake of one thing, once I obtain it, I will leave this place immediately. I will definitely not speak a single word regarding your presence… I just spoke out because I wanted to apologize for disturbing your peace and quiet.”
It was very clear that Yun Che had no desire to enter into a deadly struggle with a horrifying creature that could survive in this environment of darkness for at least the past ten thousand years. If it did not obstruct his attempt to obtain the Netherworld Udumbara Flower and they both remained amicable to each other… That would naturally be the best result that could be reached.
However, Yun Che’s hopes were dashed just as those words left his mouth.
“You foolish, pathetic and insignificant lower lifeform!!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign thundered, that ear-piercing and soul-scalding voice filled with fury, contempt and disdain. That pair of eyes which seemed like two dark grey abysses suddenly dropped down from the air, “Not only do you have designs on this king’s Netherworld Udumbara Flower, you’re actually still dreaming that this king will let you live!”
Bang!!
With a huge explosion, an enormous gray figure landed heavily in front of Yun Che.
A baleful aura that seemed to come from hell itself assaulted Yun Che, forcing him to stumble back five steps as he reflexively clenched his fists. From its voice, Yun Che could tell that it was no more than thirty meters away from him but the only thing he could see in the darkness were those grayish-white eyes. Other than that, he was not even able to make out a hazy silhouette.
It knew that Yun Che wanted the Netherworld Udumbara Flower… Oh yeah! It had already heard the conversation that he had with Zi Ji earlier!!
Even though the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was close by, he still could not see it. However, Yun Che did feel a dreadful pressure envelop him as it sought to crush both his body and soul. This pressure was entirely different from any other kind of pressure that Yun Che had endured in his life. Icy, violent rancor, arrogance and unreal bloodlust… Yun Che felt a thick wave of negative emotions envelop every corner of this dark world. All of a sudden, he was struck by the dreadful feeling that he was sealed in some kind of hellish volcano and that he was about to face the cruelest punishments imaginable.
“The root of this king’s very life and soul had been left in tatters so I had no choice but to seal myself in this place, not daring to see the light of day for ten thousand years! The darkness energy in this place has helped this king slowly recover my vitality and strength and this Netherworld Udumbara Flower will be able to restore this king’s soul origin! This is something the heavens have blessed this king with. It is the most precious thing to this king in my life! In this disgraceful place, the day on which this flower blooms every twenty four years is the day this king looks forward to the most! To think that a foolish and insignificant inferior lifeform such as yourself would dare to have designs on the object that this king treasures the most!”
When an immeasurably strong existence faced a “pitiful creature,” it normally would not even be moved to anything resembling anger. But it was very clear that Yun Che had touched this creature’s reverse scale, something that he definitely should not have done!
The baleful aura which it had suddenly released caused Yun Che’s heart to race but after that, he quickly regained his composure. His eyes turned exceptionally cold as he said, “It looks like… there isn’t much room for discussion after all.”
Not only was he unable to attain his desired outcome but the situation had deteriorated in the worst possible manner… To think that this Netherworld Udumbara Flower was actually the “reverse scale” of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign!
This also meant that if he wanted to obtain the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, he would have to kill the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign first!
He had to kill a monster that had lived for more than ten thousand years! A monster that was surrounded by boundless mysteries!
“It was rumored that your strength was around the initial stages of the Tyrant Profound Realm ten thousand years ago. Now a whole ten thousand years have passed, yet you are only at the middle stages of the Sovereign Profound Realm…” Since it had devolved into a life-or-death struggle between them, Yun Che naturally dispensed with all formalities and courtesies. Instead he gave it a cold smile as he continued, “Even the most ordinary human being could outstrip this pitiful rate of growth! It looks the monster who keeps calling us inferior lifeforms… is nothing much after all!”
“Hahahahaha!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was not provoked by Yun Che’s words. Instead, a wild laugh erupted from his throat, “Foolish and pathetic creature, how could you even deign to understand the true might of this king! This king’s current isolation is only because the very roots of my life and soul have been wounded! As long as this Netherworld Udumbara Flower is not destroyed, this king’s vitality and his soul origin will have completely recovered after three thousand more years! When that time comes, this king’s body and soul will swiftly recover and this king’s strength will grow by leaps and bounds! And at that time, everything in this world will have to bow at this king’s feet!”
Jasmine, “…”
“Tch.” Yun Che snorted disdainfully, his expression filled with contempt, “I have met quite a few strong people in my life and there’s a whole bunch of people who are stronger than you. But when it comes to being boastful and arrogant, I don’t think I’ve met a single person who has beaten you yet. Oh… could it be that you’ve been crazy from the start? That sounds about right, in this environment of absolute darkness, it wouldn’t be surprising for someone to be driven to suicide within a month or two, much less lose their minds. Speaking of that, I have to say that I am suddenly filled with admiration for you. Not only did you not commit suicide despite being holed up in this place for ten thousand years, you’re actually doing just fine.”
“Heh…” A dangerous chuckle coldly rang out in the darkness as the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign snickered, “This king has been able to endure for the past one million years, so what is a mere ten thousand years to me!”
Yun Che’s brows fiercely jumped…
One million years!?
“How ridiculous! To think that this king would deign to waste his breath on a foolish and pathetic lower life form such as yourself!”
Boom!!
An icy-cold energy wave exploded outwards as the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s eyes turned from grayish-white to jet black. Around its body, dense black-colored mist gathered. In an instant, all of the darkness energy within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest began to stir violently as an evil wind that seemed to come from hell itself mercilessly swept through and began to erode every part of the place.
Yun Che felt a pressure on his chest but after that he leaped backwards with all his strength, instantly retreating three hundred meters away. The darkness energy that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had explosively released made him feel as if he had instantly dropped into the pits of hell.
Wooosh!!
Yun Che’s left hand blazed with Phoenix flames while his right hand was engulfed by the Golden Crow flames. His entire body was being baptized by fire and his brows were fiercely knitted together. While he had been alarmed and shocked by the darkness energy radiating from the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, for some odd reason, he could not help but feel a familiarity from it that should not have existed…
Familiarity?
“Ignorant lower life form, given your pitiful strength, approaching the Netherworld Udumbara Flower would only end in your death. This king does not even need to personally execute you. But at the same time, it would also stain this king’s Netherworld Udumbara Flower with the dirty and inferior soul lower given off by you humans! So this king has no choice but to personally consign you to the dust within this darkness!”
The boundless darkness had completely camouflaged the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. Yun Che could not see where it was and could only rely on his restricted spirit perception to sense it. So in this current situation, Yun Che had already been forced to assume an absolute defensive posture before they had even come to blows.
At this moment, an extremely low voice icily rang out:
“Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night!!”
This voice had not come from Yun Che… instead it was Jasmine who had said those words!
These six words caused Yun Che to be rooted in place while also causing the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign to abruptly to freeze in place just as he was about to make an attack.
“Who is it!?” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign roared as its pupils suddenly radiated a hellish, ebon light. This hellish light fell onto Yun Che’s body as it roared once more, “Oh, so that’s how it is! Your body houses another soul… and this soul is actually able to recognize this king’s devil art!”
“Jasmine, what is going on?” Yun Che asked apprehensively. He finally knew where that odd sense of familiarity originated from… The darkness energy that was radiating from this Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was astonishingly similar to the energy aura that Fen Juechen had released the other day. It was only that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s aura was many times denser and purer than Fen Juechen’s aura had been.
“This monster is neither a beast nor a man!” Jasmine’s voice was frighteningly low, because the shock and terror in her heart was many times that of Yun Che’s own, “It is extremely likely that this monster is… from one million years ago… during the Primordial Era… it is from the Eternal Night Devil Clan…”
“A devil!!”
The appearance of the “Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night” in the Profound Sky Continent had caused Jasmine to sense that something was amiss. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign standing in front of them was extremely likely to be the dreadful truth behind… the “Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night”!
Chapter 778 - Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign (4)
“…!!” Even though he had similar suspicions, hearing Jasmine utter the word “devil” in an immeasurably somber tone caused Yun Che’s heart and soul to fiercely quiver.
Devils! They lived during the Primordial Era and had dominated the Primal Chaos Realm together with the ancient gods. Their strength, vitality and spirit… were at a level that was far above humanity… and they were an existence that was greater than all other living creatures as well!
But the gods and devils had clearly gone extinct a million years ago!
The dead gods had at the very least left behind their scattered legacies but according to what Jasmine had told him, the devils had long ago faded away completely, not leaving a single thing behind.
“Jasmine… are you sure?” Yun Che asked as his heart remained stuck in his throat. If what Jasmine had said was correct, then the monster standing in front of him was a terrifying creature of ancient legend that should have been wiped out one million years ago!!
“It is extremely likely… The Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night that he had displayed may not have been too powerful, but it was incredibly pure! There is an entire world of difference between the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night it just displayed and the one that Fen Juechen used! If one’s devil body and devil soul was not pure enough, it was impossible to use such a pure devil art… Furthermore the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night was a devil art that was supposed to have died out along with the ancient devil clan!”
Every single word that Jasmine said weighed down on Yun Che like an enormous and heavy boulder, “The Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night that was used by Fen Juechen and the Eternal Night Royal Family had very likely come from it!”
Yun Che, “…”
“Who are you! How could you recognise this king’s devil art!?” Jasmine’s words had not only stunned Yun Che, they had also stunned the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, causing the darkness energy that was swirling around it to sink slightly. But the black light that was shining in its eyes grew even brighter.
“Hmph, what a joke.” Jasmine said icily, “Do you think the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night is very rare? Within the Profound Sky Continent, there are tens of thousands of people who can use the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night!”
Jasmine’s words were clearly meant to sound things out.
“What a load of bullshit!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign roared as fury filled his voice, “The Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night is the devil art unique to my Eternal Night Devil Clan, and it is also the only devil art that still exists in this world! Under this sky, other than this king himself, it will definitely not be used by another!”
“Oh really? Since this devil art should solely belong to you, then can you explain how this princess could recognize it at first glance and how I was even able to correctly identify its name!?” Jasmine replied icily.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was dumbstruck for a short while. But after that, the dark mist around its body began to swirl violently as it become a violent tsunami of darkness, pushing Yun Che backwards by tens of steps once more. At the same time, Yun Che could clearly tell that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s fury was not directed at him.
“Oh so that is how it is… That’s how it is!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign roared in fury, “It was that unfilial son of mine… that unfilial wretch!! Not only did he betray this king, he even handed down our clan’s supreme and unsurpassed devil art to humans… AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! This king… should have torn you to shred all those years ago… TORN YOU TO SHREDS!!!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had completely lost control of its emotions and its power had gone berserk as well. The darkness profound energy spread all over the place as it lashed out crazily at its surroundings and deafening explosions blanketed the area.
“What did he say? His son?” Yun Che asked with bleak eyes as he remained on his guard. But he was completely unable to understand what the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was roaring.
Jasmine explained in a slow but low voice, “We definitely need to think of a way to get it to divulge all of its secrets! To think that there was actually another devil hiding in this world! This definitely can’t just be categorized as simply an odd occurrence! This is a huge matter that is big enough to shock the entire Primal Chaos Realm!”
“If he is really a devil from the ancient devil race and he is really able to recover his strength one day, then… he will bring about a horrifying calamity to the entire Primal Chaos Realm!”
Yun Che’s mind whirled before he shouted out in a stern voice, “Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign! I can tell you one thing, the ‘Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night’ that we know of comes from a sword that is known as the ‘Heavenly Sin Divine Sword’! Does that Heavenly Sin Divine Sword have any relation to you whatsoever?”
“Heavenly Sin Divine Sword?” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign said as he gave a furious laugh, “That is this king’s Eternal Night Devil Sword!!”
Eternal Night… Devil Sword?
The Heavenly Sin Divine Sword was the name given to the sword by the Eternal Night Royal Family, and it was a warning to its descendants that whoever used this sword was committing a crime against heaven! The Eternal Night Devil Sword… so that was its true name!?
“Why is it in the Profound Sky Continent? Did you leave it behind on purpose?” Yun Che asked as his brows knit together. As he was speaking, he also began to quietly withdraw all of his concentrated profound energy. Yun Che did this because he knew that if he made himself seem weak enough, weak to the point where it looked like he did not have the strength to resist and was a dead man walking, it would be much easier to get the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign to divulge all of his secrets.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s rage had still not dissipated and it seemed like the “unfilial son” he had mentioned was the greatest regret of his life. He roared in nearly uncontrollable rage, “Ten thousand years ago, this king had finally managed to escape the seal, and even though I did not die, the roots of my life and soul were completely destroyed. Anytime my body came into contact with the light of the sun and the moon, I was wracked with unbearable agony. Furthermore, it was highly likely that I would die in that condition so I had no choice but to cower in this dark abyss! In order for this king to find out what was going on in the outside world, I threw the Eternal Night Devil Sword into the outside world! And sealed inside the Eternal Night Devil Sword was this king’s unfilial wretch of a son!”
“This king had thought that he would do this king’s bidding and be this king’s eyes and ears in the world. But this unfilial wretch actually cut off the soul link that he had with this king! He actually betrayed this king! And he even passed down the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night to you lowly human beings… AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”
“To think that this king actually personally destroyed his devil body all those years ago in order to seal his devil soul into the Eternal Night Devil Sword, all so he could escape death together with this king! But in the end, he wound up betraying this king… That unfilial wretch! THAT UNFILIAL WRETCHED SON!!!”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s emotions were going berserk, and his deafening roars of fury threatened to rupture Yun Che’s eardrums.
“…Jasmine, do you understand what he is saying?” Yun Che whispered as he leaned against one of the walls towards the back.
“The Heavenly Sin Divine Sword is the Eternal Night Devil Sword that he is talking about, and there is the soul of another devil hiding in that sword!” Jasmine said in a somber voice, “However that sword is no cause for concern because if even the Eternal Night Royal Family could easily seal it away, it means that its strength is already too weak to even be worth mentioning. Right now, even if the devil soul in that sword hasn’t been completely extinguished, it is already teetering on the verge of oblivion. But this Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign… why is he still alive!? And he was even able to survive to this very day!”
“This planet was created by the Evil God! Since he said that he was sealed away for one million years, it is extremely likely that the Evil God was the one who sealed him away! Since the Evil God had the power to seal him away for so long, then why didn’t he just kill this Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign in the first place? He also just talked about how he sealed the devil soul of his own son into his sword, so that his son could escape death together with him… What exactly is going on here!?”
A living devil, this matter was far more terrifying and serious than a normal person could imagine.
Jasmine’s voice once again rang out within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, “Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign! You keep claiming that you are from the Eternal Night Devil Clan and you also keep saying that you’ve been sealed for a million years. Are you actually trying to tell us that you’re a devil god from the Ancient Era? Hah, how ridiculous! The god race and devil race died out one million years ago, this is a fact that any three year old child within the Primal Chaos Dimension can tell you. So every single word that you’ve uttered is foolish beyond belief!”
“This king’s devil body is not something you lowly humans have the right to call into question!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign furiously roared back at her, “Yes, the gods fell and the devils died. Half of my Eternal Night Devil Clan died at the hands of the god race, the other half were destroyed by the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations! Only this king survived! That damned Evil God, he was clearly struck by the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations’ ‘Myriad Tribulations’, yet he was still able to survive for so long after that. He was even able to use the remainder of his strength to seal this king into this lowly place!!”
“…It was just as you had guessed! He was sealed by the Evil God!” Yun Che whispered to Jasmine.
Jasmine, “…”
“This king was sealed away for one million years… A whole million years!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign continued to howl in fury, as if he was giving vent to the berserk rage that was caused by his “unfilial son”, “That damnable seal is eating away at this king’s devil body and devil soul every second! This king originally believed that he would die due to the Evil God’s seal but who would have thought that the seal’s power would suddenly run out ten thousand years ago. That not only left this king with a sliver of my life origin and soul origin, it also gave me back my freedom!”
“…” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s words caused a flash of doubt to cross Yun Che’s mind… Normally speaking, after being released from a seal, a person would say that “I had regained my freedom, but was left with a sliver of my life origin and soul origin after that”, but what the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign said was, “This not only left this king with a sliver of my life origin and soul origin, it also gave me back my freedom.”
So his words seemed to express that he did not have any freedom before he was sealed by the Evil God.
However, this doubt did not linger in his mind, because he knew that it was very likely only a difference in the way the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign expressed himself.
“That Evil God would never believe that the seal that he exhausted all his strength to set was not able to kill this king… What’s more, he himself lies dead one million years in the past, hahahahaha!!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s rage turned into wild laughter, “It is truly heaven itself which has protected this king. Heaven itself which has protected my Eternal Night Devil Clan!”
“The Evil God sealed this king in this incomparably inferior world for one reason. It must have been to ensure that if the day came where this king managed to escape his seal, I would be unable to regenerate my broken devil body and devil soul and the only thing I would be able to do was wait for death to claim me! He definitely would never have dreamed that a group of foolish, lowly humans would actually create a perfect barrier for this king. Not only did it completely obstruct the light of the sun and the moon, it also prevented this precious devil energy from dissipating, leaving it completely for this king’s use! And what was even more marvelous was that a Netherworld Udumbara Flower was actually birthed in this place… So I could absorb this devil energy to recover my life force and I could consume this Netherworld Udumbara Flower to recover my soul origin. All of these things fell into place perfectly. It is clear that the heavens themselves are helping my Eternal Night Devil Clan to once again establish the reign of the devils!”
“!!!!” At this point, Yun Che fully understood what the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was saying.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign… A devil that the Evil God had used the last bit of his strength to seal away before he himself had fallen! The seal lost its power ten thousand years ago, allowing the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign to regain his freedom. But at the same time, the seal had been eating away at him constantly for one million years. So even if he managed to escape the seal, it was just a matter of time before he met his own end.
But as it happened, he was discovered by the founders of Supreme Ocean Palace not long after he had escaped his seal and so a barrier was erected around him… which simultaneously created the most optimal place for him to recover!
Furthermore, due to the accumulation of darkness energy, a Netherworld Udumbara Flower had been birthed in this place!
The Supreme Ocean Palace had wanted to seal away this dreadful devil energy and the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign along with it… But it had unwittingly saved him!
On the other hand, if not for this barrier, that terrifying devil energy that seemed to come out of nowhere would spread towards the Profound Sky Continent and the consequences of that were unthinkable.
Just as Jasmine had said, compared to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, the object that continuously released this devil energy was far more terrifying!
Jasmine replied in a cold voice, “All those years ago, even the Evil God died due to the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations, why is it that you were the sole survivor!? Moreover, sealing you for a million years would be far more difficult than killing you. So why did the Evil God choose to exhaust all his remaining strength to seal you away rather than simply killing you?”
“Heh.” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign gave a sinister chuckle and at this moment, his fury had begun to abate as well, “Because the Evil Infant’s Wheel of Myriad Tribulations is not able to kill this king! And the Evil God is even less capable of killing this king!!”
“Why couldn’t they kill you!?” Jasmine pressed on, “The Eternal Night Devil Clan was not the most powerful clan amongst the ancient devil race! Even if you are the king of the Eternal Night Devil Clan, you are still definitely not counted amongst the strongest devils either! Even the devil god of the highest order, the Creation God known as the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor had fallen… so why are you the only one that is still alive!?”
Boom!
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign did not reply. As he regained his composure and his rage died down, the darkness energy around his body flared to life once more as a bone-cutting, icy aura heavily locked onto Yun Che. As he advanced, the entire Moon Slaughter Devil Nest began to fiercely tremble, “Since you are so eager to know the truth, then you can ask that damnable Evil God after I’ve sent you to hell! Lowly and pathetic humans, if you had been trapped in here by accident, this king wouldn’t even bother lifting a finger. Instead, I would let the devil energy in this place consume you. But you dared to lust after this king’s Netherworld Udumbara Flower… So prepare yourselves, as this king will grant you the cruelest of deaths!!”
Chapter 779 - Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign (5)
“Be forever consigned to dust in the darkness!!”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign took a step forward. Immediately, the entire Moon Slaughter Devil Nest began to quake. The dark mist around his body billowed crazily as it transformed into a giant wave of darkness energy and surged toward him.
Absolute darkness and extreme cold engulfed Yun Che like a boundless, inescapable, abyss. In front of this wave of darkness energy, Yun Che felt his body becoming rigid and he felt like dust in front of a tidal wave that reached the heavens. He was not able to attack with the Golden Crow flames he had gathered up as every cell in his body screamed for him to “escape”! If he dared to face it head on, it would only end in his complete and total destruction.
This was the first time that an attack caused his very soul to tremble in fear before it even neared his body.
Yun Che abruptly bit the tip of his tongue as he activated both Star God’s Broken Shadow and Extreme Mirage Lightning at the same time as he darted backwards, quick as lightning. As he was making his swift escape, he felt his back smash heavily against a wall that he had no way of seeing.
Boom!!
The Moon Slaughter Devil Nest shook again as the wave of darkness exploded at the place where Yun Che had been stonewalled. The exploding darkness energy seemed to spread out like a horde of evil spirits.
The interior of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest had been saturated by darkness energy of an extremely high level for an entire ten thousand years. Every inch of its walls and every grain of sand within had become incomparably durable and it also had an immeasurably strong resistance against darkness energy itself. Even though it was being impacted by this peerlessly terrifying darkness, no dust flew in the wake of the attack and the wall itself merely shook but did not collapse.
Even though Yun Che had not been caught by the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s exploding darkness profound energy, the icy cold aftershocks caused his whole body to be wracked by unbearable pain. His brows knitted together tightly as he took big gasps of breath. After facing the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s first attack, his heart instantly sank to the bottom of his stomach… Both individuals were at the sixth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm and both of them also wielded the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night but just based on the darkness profound energy that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had used in his attack, he was at least several times stronger than Fen Juechen!
Furthermore the icy cold might and pressure that were emanating from his body were at least one hundred times more stronger than Fen Juechen’s!!
Even when he faced the Sovereign of the Seas, Qu Fengyi, the might and pressure that he had felt was vastly inferior to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s.
Because, it… was a devil from ancient times after all!!
“Yun Che, you better listen up and listen good!” Jasmine yelled in an extremely serious tone, “This Moon Devil Sovereign! No matter what tactics or trump cards you have to use, you must use all your strength to kill him, even if you have to put your life on the line! Only your strength is not restricted by the dark devil energy in this place! So you are the only person who can kill him on this Blue Pole Star! Otherwise, the day he fully revives is the day the entire Profound Sky Continent and all the living creatures on this world experience a catastrophe beyond imagination!”
“Heh, right now, I have no time to care about a catastrophe.” Yun Che’s hands tightened into fists as he barked out a miserable laugh filled with self-mockery, “If I’m unable to kill him, then I’m dead meat. So I have no choice but to put everything on the line anyways… It’s only that this time, there really isn’t any chance of victory.”
Because the monster he was facing was a devil from ancient times!
In the million years since the fall of the gods and devils, Yun Che was astonishingly the very first person who had crossed arms with a devil in the entire Primal Chaos Realm!
“If it was just you alone, then you’d indeed be as good as dead, as you wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of beating him.” Jasmine said in a deep voice, “But if we add in Hong’er… then we might just have a chance!”
“Hmph, what a pitiful struggle!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign stretched out a pitch-black arm as a cluster of dark mist coalesced in front of him. After that, it started to pulsate like an enormous living organ. After the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign stretched out his finger, the dark mist fiercely tore itself apart as it shot out a thousand bolts of black lightning that stormed in Yun Che’s location. Every single bolt of dark lightning was as slender as a needle but the might contained within each bolt of lightning caused all the hairs on Yun Che’s body to stand on end as he instantly went pale.
“Don’t even think of trying to break that attack, dodge all of them! If you are hit by any one of them, the darkness energy contained within will directly harm your soul!” Jasmine yelled out an urgent warning.
Yun Che did not even stop to think about it. He clung to the side of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’s walls as he once again activated Star God’s Broken Shadow and Extreme Mirage Lightning to escape from this attack at the fastest speed possible.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang…
The dark lightning tore a thousand holes in the air before it collided against the stone wall with an ear-splitting wail. At the same time, vicious currents of dark energy spilled from the dark lightning uncontrollably. Many stone walls were scattered within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, so as Yun Che fled backwards with all his might, all of the dark lightning was soaked up by the stone walls… Despite the dreadful power that was contained by each bolt of dark lightning, power sufficient to easily pierce through Heavenly Firm Jade, none of these lightning bolts were able to penetrate a single stone wall in this place.
These stone walls that had been saturated by darkness energy for ten thousand years had clearly become a protective umbrella for Yun Che as he fled pathetically.
“Hah… hah…” Yun Che gasped violently as he leaned heavily against a stone wall, his forehead covered in cold sweat. Once he had managed to compose himself, he realized that the two attacks made by the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had pushed him from the depths of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest to its middle.
If this continued, he would simply flee until he was rendered unable to flee.
“This can’t continue…” Yun Che mumbled through gritted teeth as he stared in the direction of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, “Merely escaping is completely meaningless in this place… I’ll just have to put it all on the line, no matter what!”
“Ah, this has truly shocked this king! To think that a pathetically weak and inferior lifeform such as yourself could escape this king’s punishment twice in a row. But it is such a pity, because you are not qualified to become a plaything for this king. So this time, even if you have ten more lives, even if you are ten times faster, you will disappear forever! Not even a single bone will be left behind!”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s voice seemed near and far as it rang out from within the boundless darkness, making it hard for Yun Che to get a lock on his position. He gritted his teeth hard as he suppressed the terror that was welling up in his heart…
“Purgatory!!”
With a low roar, all of the profound energy in Yun Che’s body explosively swelled up as the pupils of his eyes and the surrounding profound energy instantly turned a dull red.
“Burning Sun Rupture!!”
Yun Che darted out from behind the stone wall as blazing Golden Crow flames frantically ignited and exploded with full force towards the onrushing Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign.
Boom!!
When the onrushing Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was still sixty meters away, the Golden Crow flames abruptly ruptured, but these rupturing flames of destruction did not release the power of the Golden Crow flames which would reduce everything to nothingness. Instead the flames were quickly extinguished within the darkness as they faded away. Within the short span of a single breath, everything was plunged into pitch-black stillness once again.
“Wh…at!” Yun Che said as he gritted his teeth fiercely.
“This is truly a meaningless struggle.” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign said with icy contempt and mockery, “If it was the flames of the Vermillion Bird, this king may feel the slightest hints of trepidation. But these lowly Golden Crow flames are merely a pitiful joke!”
“…” The fact that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was an ancient devil was confirmed yet again! Not only had he identified the flames as Golden Crow flames with a single glance but he also did not show the slightest bit of amazement at seeing them.
At this moment, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s aura abruptly grew thick and heavy as the expression in his eyes fiercely changed as well… because he had felt the change in Yun Che’s profound energy and he had also noticed the strange profound light which glowed around him.
“Evil God… Arts!!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign said in a voice that trembled suddenly. But after that, it morphed into a roar of pure fury and rage, “You actually inherited the powers of the Evil God… AHHH!!!! THEN YOU DESERVE TO DIE EVEN MORE!! EVEN MORE!!”
“This king has sworn countless of times that the first thing I had to do when I saw the light of day again was to destroy every single trace of the Evil God left in this universe!!”
“So you, the human who who has inherited the power of the Evil God! This king will consign both your body and soul to oblivion forever!!”
The seal had lasted for one million years and what was accumulated had been one million years of resentment and rage against the Evil God!
The moment he had felt the Evil God’s power on Yun Che’s body, all the resentment that festered within the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign erupted like a raging volcano. In a single instant, his fury caused the entire Moon Slaughter Devil Nest to shake and it was a million times more intense than the fury he had previously directed towards his “unfilial son”.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign roared once again as he suddenly took to the air. He shot a claw out towards Yun Che and a thick and dense darkness that seemed to come from a devil god that dwelt in the depths of a deep abyss shot out from his body to engulf Yun Che.
He wanted to use that darkness energy to imprison Yun Che before using his bare hands to personally tear Yun Che into bits and pieces. All so that he could give vent to the million years of anger and resentment he held against the Evil God.
Yun Che steeled himself as he tried to push aside his fear and desire to flee but the dread that welled up in his soul and his body’s instinctual desire to cower in fear was incomparably intense. The pressure from this devil simply wasn’t something a mortal’s body could bear. Yun Che being able to endure up to this point was already difficult beyond belief.
“I have to put it all in the line… The only choice I have is to put it all on the line! If not, the only thing that awaits me is a meaningless death!”
His body was still being wracked by uncontrollable trembling and he gritted his teeth so hard that he had nearly broken a few of them. However, the dread in his heart instantly turned into a violent rage…
“Hong’er!!”
A vermillion light shone as the Heaven Smiting Sword appeared. Yun Che’s body shot into the air at the same time as he braced to meet the darkness energy that he could not possibly resist. While he gave vent to his emotions with a great roar, he poured all of his energy into the Heaven Smiting Sword without reservation as he smashed it towards the boundless darkness before him.
It was also at this exact moment that Yun Che suddenly saw the absolute darkness clearing before his very eyes.
The body of the Heaven Smiting Sword released a vermillion light that Yun Che was quite familiar with. In this world of darkness, that the Golden Crow flames could barely illuminate, the vermillion light that emanated from the Heaven Smiting Sword was actually able to pierce through the darkness around Yun Che… it revealed the approaching whirlpool of darkness… and even managed to light up every corner of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest!!
It even clearly revealed the full appearance of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign to Yun Che as well!
At the same time, he felt the all-encompassing, unconquerable fear that he held towards the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, which had captivated his heart, suddenly disappear. It had disappeared completely, he even felt that the vortex of darkness which sped to engulf him had become far less dreadful. Even the dark might, which radiated from the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, had become less heavy.
What’s… this?
All of these changes had occurred the moment Yun Che had put his life on the line and rushed forth with the Heaven Smiting Sword. It was just that Yun Che did not have the time to be amazed by these changes or even think about them. Because in the very next instant, the Heaven Smiting Sword had heavily collided with the vortex of dark energy that had been conjured by the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign.
The instant the sword blade approached the vortex of darkness, Yun Che clearly saw the originally raging and surging vortex of dark energy become sluggish… or perhaps it would be better to say that it had curled up in fear!
Rippppp!!
The dreadful vortex of dark energy was sliced cleanly in two by the Heaven Smiting Sword, as if it was simply a pitch-black curtain. The dark devil energy that rushed out did not attempt to rush up and devour Yun Che. Instead, it curled back as if in fear before twisting backwards as it fled desperately… as if it had come face to face with the one thing in the world that it feared the most.
The incomparably dreadful vortex of darkness had been dispersed with a single blow. Yun Che stared at the now empty space in front of him with with blank eyes as he could barely believe what he had just witnessed. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was equally stunned. He stopped in place as both of his eyes fell heavily on the sword in Yun Che’s hand. The gray light in his pupils grew incredibly frenzied as he gasped, “That… that is…”
At this time, Yun Che finally came back to his senses. His heart no longer felt any fear or pressure as he used Star God’s Broken Shadow to appear in front of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, smashing the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword down fiercely on the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s chest.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was in shock as he was struck by Yun Che’s attack.
“ARGGHHHHHHH!!”
A hoarse and shrill cry blanketed the entire Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. Even though Yun Che’s blow had been hastily struck, it still carried the force of a tremendous amount of weight and sent the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign flying.
Yun Che did not give chase. He only stood there, rooted in place… All he heard was the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s shrill and miserable wails, which did not die out until a long time later.
An ancient devil who could endure a seal that lasted a million years, who had a mighty devil body had actually let out such a shrill and miserable wail after being struck by Yun Che’s sword… It was as if he had suffered the cruelest punishment in this world.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s pitch-black body heavily smashed against a stone wall that was three hundred meters away before it flopped to the ground. But he did not stand up. Instead, he began to roll on the ground as he let out cries that spoke of incomparable agony… As for the place where the Heaven Smiting Sword had struck his chest, it was astonishingly marked with a vermillion red wound. The vermillion light radiating from the wound was exceptionally glaring and it did not fade for a long time after, as streams of pitch-black blood poured out from within.
“Devil… devil slayer… sword!!”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s voice had been warped by pain but the three words “devil slayer sword” had clearly been uttered with deep dread.
Yun Che stared blankly at the scene in front of him. The Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was no longer a world of absolute darkness. It had now become completely stained in vermillion light. And the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign who was incomparably terrifying was now mewling in pain as he laid curled out up on the ground… Yun Che bent his head to look at the vermillion greatsword which was all too familiar to him with a dazed expression on his face. Yet at this moment, it almost seemed to be a stranger.
“Hahahahaha, that was the case after all!” Jasmine crowed triumphantly, “The moment an ancient devil is wounded by a devil slayer sword, the pain it endures is a thousand times greater and the time the wound takes to recover is also ten times slower than usual! So devils who are more pure than others will fear the devil slayer sword even more!”
“So now, you should know why I said that as long as you have Hong’er around, there is still a chance that you can beat this Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign!”
Chapter 780 - Xiao Yun’s Disappearance
“So you’re saying that the reason why I was able to defeat Fen Juechen so easily was also due to Hong’er?” Yun Che asked in astonishment.
“Hmph, what do you think?”
“…” Yun Che immediately grew depressed. Since he had beaten Fen Juechen, he had always thought that his strength had reached the stage where he could go toe to toe with a practitioner of the sixth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm. But to think that it was actually because of Hong’er!
It was no wonder why the darkness profound energy that Fen Juechen had used during their duel was far weaker than the exceedingly terrifying aura that had radiated from his body… At that time, he had already found it exceedingly strange but he had not thought of Hong’er at all. Instead, he guessed that it was because Feng Juechen was unable to obtain complete mastery over the darkness profound energy which had come from an external source.
Under the vermillion light emanating from the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword, the originally inky dark interior of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest became incredibly clear and Yun Che could even see the small pebbles at the corners of the nest. He naturally could also see the full appearance of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign… He was nearly five meters tall, black light radiating from his body. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s skin was a deep gray color while his hair was bone-white, trailing all the way to his feet.
At first glance, besides the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s enormous build and the dusky hue of his skin, his appearance was basically no different from a human’s. Having been tortured by a seal for a million years and having to hide from the light of day for another ten thousand years, Yun Che had thought that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign would be exceedingly ugly and look as old as a ghost. To his surprise, the Moon Devil Sovereign’s features, while warped in pain, were exceptionally handsome, from a human’s perspective. Furthermore, he did not look much older than a thirty year old man.
“It… it can’t be… it can’t be a devil slayer sword!”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign finally stood up, but he remained in a hunched posture and the gray hand that he held to the wound on his chest continued to tremble. Yun Che could still see that vermillion light leaking out from between the gaps of his fingers and it did not seem to be weakening in the slightest.
“The Sword Spirit God Clan… were the first clan of gods to be wiped out… So it isn’t possible that a devil slayer sword still exists in this world!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign exclaimed in a voice that was still filled with pain. Besides a devil slayer sword, nothing else in this world could inflict a wound that would torment a true devil body for such a long period of time, despite only being only half a foot long.
“The sword light…” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s eyes widened as he let out a sudden howl, “Devil slayer swords emit a white-colored sword light… That isn’t a devil slayer sword!! Just what sword are you holding in your hands!? Where exactly did you get such a sword!?”
Jasmine, “…”
“Hmph, you don’t need to concern yourself with where my sword came from. The only thing you need to know is that you will die at the hands of this sword… and that is enough!” Yun Che hefted the Heaven Smiting Sword, his expression no longer containing the slightest bit of fear or desire to flee. Instead, he looked supremely confident at the moment and his lips curled into a cold smile that spoke of his impending victory.
Jasmine could naturally feel the change in Yun Che’s attitude and she spoke out abruptly, “Aren’t you getting a bit too overconfident right now? The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign only used half his power at most when he launched that attack at you. Furthermore, the only reason you were able to wound him at all was because you caught him off guard. Even though Hong’er’s power is able to heavily restrict his own power, it definitely doesn’t mean that your victory is assured! His powers are far more robust and stronger than your own! And it is absolutely sufficient to overcome the disadvantage that Hong’er has put him at.”
“I know.” Yun Che said as he gripped the Heaven Smiting Sword tightly but his voice still contained more than a hint of excitement, “I can roughly gauge his strength right now. The first thing I felt when I faced him was an overwhelming dread that I wasn’t able to overcome at all. But after I summoned out Hong’er, for some inexplicable reason, that feeling completely disappeared. And right now, I don’t feel the slightest bit of fear. Rather… I feel even more relaxed and excited than when I faced off against Fen Juechen.”
Jasmine, “…?”
This was indeed strange. It was true that holy power and devil power mutually repulsed and restricted each other but Yun Che did not have a holy body and he did not possess any holy powers either. Furthermore, it was Hong’er’s presence alone that was restricting the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s devil body and devil powers.
But that was only his devil body and devil powers! It would not affect his soul!
No matter whether it was strength, spirit or species, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was far above Yun Che. So without even discussing the Yun Che who was currently far inferior to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, even if both of them were equal in terms of power, Yun Che would definitely still be suppressed, especially when it came to the suppression of his soul… The overwhelming terror that Yun Che could not shake was the most ordinary and expected outcome.
So why had Yun Che’s fear completely disappeared and why was he able to radiate such a fierce and aggressive aura? On the other hand, it was the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign who… If it was a god who was on the same level as him holding a devil slayer sword, then perhaps he might feel fear. But right now he was facing a Yun Che whose power was far inferior to his, so why was he feeling such an intense dread?
From all the records of the devil slayer swords and from all his memories of them, it had never once been mentioned that they could also suppress a devil’s soul.
Oh right, Hong’er was not simply a normal devil slayer sword! The light she radiated when she transformed into sword was completely different from the light that the fabled devil slayer swords emitted…
But being able to create such a huge suppressive effect on a devil’s soul that practically transcended levels… Such an item should not even exist in this world! Whether it was the records of the Primordial Era or any inheritance of memories, there was no mention of such an item… given the level that the gods and devils existed on, it was not possible for such a thing to exist.
Unless… it was a higher order devil or god who was facing a lower level devil or god… But that was purely a suppression based on the order of things!
“…” The abnormally fierce and exuberant expression displayed on Yun Che’s face caused Jasmine to go into deep thought.
“Very good!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s face was warped by fury. He slowly straightened up and began striding towards Yun Che, “It is indeed not important for this king to concern myself with that sword! Because the conclusion will be the same regardless! To think that a lowly and inferior creature such as yourself could actually inflict such pain on this king… Unforgivable!!”
“This king will grind all your bones into dust!!”
As his voice fell, all of the dark energy surrounding the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign began to surge and roil. He was only about one hundred steps away from Yun Che as well. He had originally believed that every step he took towards Yun Che would be like the footfalls of death itself as it pressed on in this lowly human, causing his entire body to tremble with fear, his courage to completely melt away and ultimately ending with Yun Che turning tail to flee… But right now, the only thing he saw was the cold smile that played across Yun Che’s face and even as he pressed in, no fear appeared on Yun Che’s face. Instead his gaze grew more fevered and excited and even his profound energy aura grew incredibly frenzied.
On the contrary, it was the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign who felt like his heart was being weighed down by one crushing boulder after another with every step he took. Furthermore, the light radiating from Yun Che’s sword was especially unbearable, it caused him immense discomfort and he did not even dare to look at it directly. This natural repulsion he felt towards the light that he recognized as a great threat to his own life and soul origin continued until he suddenly focused his gaze on the sword. At the same time, the full appearance of that vermillion greatsword and the light that it emitted was completely absorbed into his mind…
At that instant, his feet completely froze and his pupils widened so much that it seemed like they would rupture.
“Heaven… Heaven Smiting Devil God Sword!!”
Jasmine, “…!!!?”
Thump…
The moment the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign started to shiver in fear, it seemed as if all of his strength had slipped away as he sank to his knees, his body trembling violently like a sieve. It was as if he had witnessed the most terrifying and unbelievable scene in this world!
This bizarre behavior and reaction was one hundred times more intense than when he had shouted out the three words “devil slayer sword”!
“What’s going on now?” Yun Che had already been prepared to launch an all-out assault. But he had never expected the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign to suddenly become scared witless. His brows twitched as he stared at the dazed Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign… Could it be that this fellow’s wits had been completely scrambled because he had been alone for too long?
“He just yelled out a name… Heaven Smiting Devil God Sword? Yes?” Yun Che suddenly exclaimed, “Oh right! Besides the two words ‘devil slayer’ that is inscribed on the sword that Hong’er transforms into, there are also two other words, ‘heaven smiting.’ At first, he called it a ‘devil slayer sword,’ then he called it the ‘Heaven Smiting Devil God Sword.’ When you put those two names together, it really fits the sword that Hong’er transforms into. Could it be that he knows about Hong’er’s origins? After all, like Hong’er, he also hails from the Primordial Era!
“…Now is not the time to worry about these things!” Jasmine shouted in a rather strange voice but she did not address Yun Che’s doubts, “Remember what I said just now, do not hold anything back, use all your trump cards and pay whatever price you have to because you definitely need to kill this Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign!” Right now, his devil body and powers are being restricted by Hong’er. Furthermore, he threw his own weapon into the Profound Sky Continent, so when it comes to weaponry, you have the absolute advantage… Put everything you have on the line! It is definitely possible for you to kill him!”
“Alright!” Yun Che swiftly cast all other thoughts aside as his killing intent surged and flames ignited all over his body.
“Im… Impossible! Impossible! Impossible!!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign howled hysterically but it was almost as if he was talking to himself at the same time, “Appearance… exactly the same… and this devilish might… No! It isn’t possible… it definitely isn’t possible! The color isn’t the same… and even if it is… then how come it is also able to exude the aura of a devil slayer sword…”
At this moment, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s head suddenly jerked up as he roared at Yun Che, “That sword… just what kind of sword is it, where did it come from!!?”
He had just yelled that the origins and history of that sword was not important… But at this moment, he repeated the words that he had shouted at Yun Che initially and this time, his voice was even more frenzied.
“You talk way too much!” Yun Che replied coldly. After that, his body blurred as he rushed towards the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, “Why don’t you just ask King Yama when you see him in hell!?”
Yun Che’s words caused the devilish light in the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s eyes to burn brightly. To think that he showed such a pathetic and cowardly face to a human being, just thinking about it caused his temper to boil over. “This king will cripple you first, then search your soul!!”
He had changed his mind and decided not to kill Yun Che… It was clear that he simply had to figure out what was going on with the vermillion greatsword that Yun Che held in his hands!
All of the devil energy in his body swelled up as deep gray devilish markings lit up on his back. In an instant, the roiling dark devil energy formed into a enormous black shadow behind him. This black shadow was tens of meters tall and it had nine sinuous heads which twisted about, as if it was the legendary monster, the Nine-headed Hydra!
A brutal and frenzied aura which promised pain leaked out from that shadow, causing all of the energy in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest to grow frenzied as well. After that, the black shadow dissolved into nine beams of dark energy which sizzled towards Yun Che.
“That is the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night’s Nine Deaths of Eternal Night! It carries nine different kinds of extremely negative concepts and it will destroy your mind before even hurting your body!”
Yun Che remained fearless and resolute, a corner of his mouth hooked into a cold smile. All the joints of his body creaked as he swung the Heaven Smiting Sword which weighed nearly five hundred thousand kilograms. Golden Crow flames ran along the body of the heavy sword as it instantly generated a rampaging, all-consuming firestorm which smashed heavily against the nine beams of dark devil energy.
The beams of dark devil energy were completely swallowed by the onrushing firestorm and in that instant, the space in that area completely shattered. The color of the wind changed as deafening energy explosions and the extremely terrible shrill sound of something being devoured rang in the air for a long time.
For the levels of power being shown by Yun Che and the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, while being immensely sturdy, was far too small a battlefield to contain their fight. Both of their powers clashed fiercely and it seemed like the entire earth was shaking. The clothes on Yun Che’s body had been ripped to shreds but the pupils of his eyes released a deep red light. He lashed out with the Heaven Smiting Sword again and again and each slash was accompanied by an earth-shattering boom.
Boom! Boom! Boooom…
Yun Che had made more than ten continuous slashes, forcing those nine beams of devil energy more than thirty meters into the distance, not allowing a single one to approach his body. The attack which had used about seventy percent of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s power had been completely blown away. After that, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s body shot out like a rocket and two black hands which seemed to emerge from the deepest abyss, streaming with the extremely dense dark devil energy, tore at Yun Che’s throat.
Boom!!
Sword and claw met as the scarlet red flames surged against pitch-black devil energy. Yun Che’s body shook and his upper body bent, causing a faint shock to shoot through his heart… This Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had actually used a hand that had been wrapped in darkness energy to clash directly with his Heaven Smiting Sword!
Just based on this point alone, Yun Che was absolutely convinced that if not for the Heaven Smiting Sword in his hand, he would definitely not be the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s opponent.
But the alarm and astonishment that shot through the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was one hundred times more intense! He was shocked that the power of a noble and superior devil such as himself had been blocked by this inferior human being!
What alarmed him even more was that… the moment his power came into contact with that vermillion greatsword, it suddenly weakened drastically! It was as if something had mysteriously siphoned that power away!
Pop! Pop! Pop…
All the bones in Yun Che’s body made small popping sounds and his originally dull red eyes became filled with frenzy and killing intent. Before the aftershock of the previous attack had completely dispersed, he suddenly somersaulted through the air as he smashed his sword toward the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign.
“Pathetic human being… if it’s just you alone, you can stop dreaming of matching blows with this king!!”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign gave a roar of extreme fury as both his claws shot out. At the same time, the pitch-black devilish light suddenly expanded and swelled by tens of meters. The darkness energy swept forward, intending to smash the Heaven Smiting Sword into pieces, reducing it to nothingness.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boooom…
Flames exploded violently and darkness energy wreaked havoc all over the place. Within the space of a few breaths, the flames and the devilish light had clashed against each other one hundred times as the small battlefield seemed to be engulfed in an apocalyptic calamity… If this was not the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, then even if it was an island that was five hundred kilometers wide, it would have been completely obliterated by now.
Blue Wind Nation. Blue Wind Imperial City. The main hall of the Imperial Palace.
Cang Yue lounged on a phoenix chair, a faint smile played across her fair face. Her heart was calm and peaceful as she casually perused a jade scroll.
At this moment, she felt a faint ripple of profound energy course through her Sound Transmission Jade.
Cang Yue put down her jade scroll and grasped the Sound Transmission Jade in her hand. The voice that came from the it was Xiao Lingxi’s voice… and Cang Yue could hear the anxiousness in her voice as well as faint traces of weeping.
“…What!” After she had finished listening to the Xiao Lingxi’s sound transmission, she shot to her feet, her crescent brows knitted together fiercely.
After she pondered the matter briefly, she grasped the Sound Transmission Jade once more as she sent a sound transmission back to Xiao Lingxi, “Lingxi, don’t be anxious. You need to devote all your energy into ensuring that Seventh Sister’s emotions remain stable, we definitely mustn’t allow anything to happen to the baby! I will immediately think of a way to transmit a message to my husband.”
Even after she put down the Sound Transmission Jade, Cang Yue’s phoenix brows remained furrowed for a long time. She whispered to herself, “Husband is currently at Supreme Ocean Palace, which is one hundred and fifty thousand kilometers distant. The highest grade Sound Transmission Talisman can only send a message over a distance of fifty thousand kilometers…”
“Only Frozen Cloud Asgard is left! Perhaps they will have a way to send a sound transmission to my husband!”
“Men! Summon Palace Chief Dongfang and Palace Chief Qin!” Cang Yue shouted in an anxious voice.
The highest grade Sound Transmission Talisman was only able to transmit over a distance of fifty thousand kilometers. Furthermore, it was also exceedingly expensive. Even so, it would still not be able to reach Supreme Ocean Palace, which laid one hundred and fifty thousand kilometers away. Frozen Cloud Asgard was their only remaining hope… but it just so happened that the only sound transmission imprints she had belonging to Frozen Cloud Asgard was those of Yun Che, Feng Xue’er and Xia Qingyue. But right now, none of them were not in the Frozen Cloud Asgard.
After a very short period of time, Dongfang Xiu and Qin Wushang had finally hurried over.
“Palace Chief Qin!” Cang Yue yelled, dispensing with all formalities as she rushed over to speak to them, “You need to immediately send a sound transmission to all the Profound Palaces within the Blue Wind Nation and order them to cease all other activities within the next three days as I want them to devote all their efforts into searching for traces of Xiao Yun!”
“Xiao Yun?” Qin Wushang and Dongfang Xie were both taken aback, “What has happened!?”
“Xiao Yun disappeared four hours ago.” Cang Yue said solemnly, “If someone else had disappeared for four hours, it wouldn’t be anything strange. But Xiao Yun normally doesn’t even stray half a step away from his wife. So for him to suddenly up and vanish is a very strange thing indeed! Palace Chief Qin, time is of the essence and we don’t have any of it left to explain things or second guess ourselves! You already know Xiao Yun’s age and appearance and before he disappeared, he was wearing plain white clothes and he had a white cloth wrapped around his waist… So go and inform all the Profound Palaces! But remember this, all the Profound Palaces must conduct their investigations covertly! We definitely must not disclose anything to the public! The moment anyone discovers a trace of Xiao Yun, he must make a report back with the fastest speed possible!”
“Understood!” Qin Wushang yelled. He knew that this matter was deadly serious and he did not speak any further. Instead, he turned around to carry out his orders.
“Do we need to dispatch anybody to Floating Cloud City?” Dongfang Xiu asked.
Cang Yue gently shook her head, “The profound strength of Xiao Yun and his wife are unrivaled in Blue Wind Nation. Even if you put them in the Heavenly Sword Villa, the other party was able to kidnap Xiao Yun without raising a single alarm. So if they wanted to take action against the others, no matter how many people we send, it won’t be of any use.”
“Palace Chief Dongfang, my hus… Yun Che is currently staying at Supreme Ocean Palace and only the disciples of Frozen Cloud Asgard will be able to contact him! I want you to depart for Frozen Cloud Asgard right away! Even if you have to travel day and night, you have to reach Frozen Cloud Asgard within the next twenty four hours, no matter what! Inform them of what has transpired! They will naturally know what to do after that.”
Dongfang Xiu gave a brief nod before he took the air and disappeared from the great hall as he rushed towards the north.
Chapter 781 - Fierce Battle within the Devil Nest
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boooom…
The Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was enduring the most terrifying calamity it had ever experienced in its existence as raging flames and sinister darkness filled every nook and cranny. The space within was crazily collapsing in on itself and the thunderous explosions sounded like they were being produced by a heavenly bell that was being repeatedly smashed by an enormous mountain… At this moment, if there were other profound practitioners on the scene, even if they were strong individuals who were at the Emperor Profound Realm, just these earth-shaking explosions would be enough to instantly cause their energy and blood to flow in reverse, rendering them unconscious.
And if they were slightly weaker than that, they might simply be killed on the spot, completely shattered in body and soul.
One man and one devil had already exchanged hundreds of blows in this sealed world of darkness. It was as though the both of them had come to an agreement of sorts, as their strength continued to rise with no end in sight… both man and devil kept pushing each other and testing the limits of each other’s power.
The catastrophe that had engulfed the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest grew more and more intense and it was as if the small world had been thrown into the mouth of an erupting volcano… Only the half-bloomed Netherworld Udumbara Flower remained undisturbed, even though it was right in the eye of the storm. It gently and leisurely swayed as it continued to let out those ghastly wails every now and then.
Bang!!!
Yun Che’s sword exploded forward but the body of the blade was smashed aside by the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. Flames which contained the strength of the heavy sword exploded against a stone wall that was more than one hundred fifty meters away. Immediately, an extremely shrill and piercing cracking sound muffled the explosions of the flames as a long crack which stretched all the way to the floor appeared on the stone wall.
To make a crack in the walls of this place was even harder than smashing apart an enormous mountain with the stroke of a sword!
Yun Che’s blade sliced through the air as he lost his balance, but he swiftly gathered himself. Grasping the five hundred thousand kilogram Heaven Smiting Sword easily in his hand, he immediately counterattacked, fiercely smashing the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s devilish claws aside.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Booooom…
The Moon Slaughter Devil Nest continued to shake as stone fragments began to fall from the crack in the stone wall that Yun Che had smashed. Before those fragments even hit the ground, they were swallowed up by an immeasurably frenzied vortex of energy.
After more than ten thousand exchanges, it was remarkable that the man and the devil were still evenly matched. From the start to now, neither party was able to gain even the slightest advantage over the other.
Yun Che’s expression was extremely gloomy, because this was no simple exchange of skills, this was a fight to the death. Between him and the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, one of them had to die… Yet his eyes were shining with an excitement which only seemed to grow fiercer still with each passing moment.
On the other hand, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was growing more and more alarmed.
He was a devil, a true devil from the ancient times and he was a ruler among the devils at that! Moreover, it was tacitly understood by all devils that humans were merely an inferior lifeform that was not much different from a scurrying ant. In the past, a casual wave of his hand would have been enough to destroy a planet that contained billions of humans.
So even though his life and soul origin ad sustained incredible damage and his current strength was not even a fraction of what it used to be, the contempt that he had for humans still remained carved into his very bones. Even though he was in his current weakened state, the aura that Yun Che exuded was still many times weaker than his own… and even though Yun Che held a bizarre blade that caused his power to recoil and his soul to tremble uncontrollably in fear, in the eyes of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, he was still an insect.
However, from the moment he had first exchanged blows with Yun Che, shock began to resonate within his soul. Not only did this shock not grow weaker with each exchange, it was instead growing more and more intense with each passing moment… Initially, he had not used all of his strength, because when he was facing a lowly creature such as this, using all of his might would be a huge stain on his name. After realizing that Yun Che’s strength was far greater than he had initially anticipated, he also began to increase the power that he used. But no matter how much his power rose, the other party was able to match it. And right now, it had reached the point where he was using ninety percent of his strength, yet he was still unable to suppress Yun Che.
The power that radiated from that vermillion greatsword alarmed him greatly. Given such power, every swing of that sword should expend a great amount of Yun Che’s energy, as he merely had the body of a mortal. Shockingly, even after a thousand sword strokes, not only had his blows not become softer, they were actually growing stronger and stronger with each swing…
This was a lowly creature with an inferior body and aura. Yet he seemed to hold a power that was not inferior to the power his devil god body bestowed him!
This damnable human being, he was definitely desperately holding on just by the skin of his teeth! Given his pathetic aura and his pathetic body, how can he continue to release such a level of power!?
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s expression warped fiercely as black light suddenly exploded out of his fiendish pupils. The highest level of the Illusory Devil Tome of Eternal Night was instantly channeled and dark devil energy surged up from within his entire body without reservation.
Yun Che’s brows knit together as he let out a great roar. All of the muscles in his arms swelled, veins twisting and joints popping explosively as he shot forward using both feet as a spring. Berserk profound energy flowed from his entire body into his arms before surging into the Heaven Smiting Sword. Without holding back, he fiercely swept the sword forward.
Boooooom!!!
The dark earth beneath Yun Che’s feet had completely fractured and stone fragments were billowing in the air like leaves in his wake. He heavily smashed into the wall behind him with a loud crash… the overly strong stone wall caused the enormous power that he had endured to completely rebound back into him, rendering his entire body numb. His consciousness instantly blanked as he nearly spat a large amount of blood out of his mouth.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was not in a much better state than he was. He had been sent flying overhead by Yun Che’s sword smash. His huge devil body had smashed into the stone ceiling above before violently rebounding off of it. After that, he had rolled for tens of meters before he finally smashed into a stone wall.
When the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign finally stood up, his eyes and expression had completely changed. Even his breathing had grown incredibly rough and heavy.
He… a mighty devil lord, to think that he had actually been sent flying by a human being!!
Sent flying by a human being!!
Sent flying!!
It was like a devilish curse that resonated in his ears and his soul again and again. When he had been wounded by Yun Che’s sword at first, it was because he had been in a total state of shock and so he did not react fast enough to defend. But this time around, he had clearly used all of his powers in an all-out clash, and there were no cheap tricks involved either, yet he was still sent flying in the end!!
Sent flying by a human being!
What kind of a humiliation was that!?
It also clearly proved that… the human who stood in front of him, the one that he had thought to be no more significant than an ant, actually had power that rivalled his own!
Yun Che had gotten to his feet before the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign and even though he had endured an attack from his opponent at full strength, the five hundred thousand kilogram Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword had not budged from his grip. Though some of his bones had sustained hairline fractures and more than ten of his veins had snapped, to him, these were merely superficial injuries. He stabilized his energy and blood before slowly sauntering towards the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, “Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, you kept calling me a pathetic and lowly human being, so here I was, thinking that you were hot stuff… But it turns out that you only amount to this much after all!!”
“You… dare… to…”
Regardless of Yun Che’s reckless mockery, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had already become so incensed and ashamed because of this humiliation that all his rationality had practically flown out the window. During the Primordial Era, even in the world of devils, he was still one of the devils that stood above the rest! Mere human beings were not even qualified to kneel in his presence!
Yet right now, he had been sent flying by a human, had been wounded by a human, was being looked upon contemptuously by a human and had even received mockery from a human.
This was like no humiliation he had ever experienced before in his lifetime!!
“Light… less… Eternal… Night!!”
As he chanted those words in a voice filled with enough hate to encompass the universe. Boundless darkness descended from above like a pitch-black curtain. It instantly plunged Yun Che into a quagmire of darkness as that terrifying devouring power immediately assaulted both his body and soul. Every cell in his body seemed to be swarmed by countless dark and sinister hands which tried to drag him towards the abyss of death.
Yun Che instantly recognized it. This was actually the move that Fen Juechen had used during their duel several months ago. The Dark Domain that he had released when he was on the brink of defeat, regardless of the cost.
During that moment, all the light had been swallowed up and it was as if he had been pulled into an endless dark quagmire… It was only the Heaven Smiting Sword that was still able to emit that unrelenting vermillion light within the boundless darkness. When he brandished the sword, that streak of vermillion light had easily torn through the unending night.
The Lightless Eternal Night that was used by the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was many times stronger than the one that Fen Juechen had used. But the vermillion light of the Heaven Smiting Sword continued to flash in the midst of that dark abyss! In this dense and inky darkness, the light emitted by the sword was even more eye-catching.
“Break!!”
“Yellow Springs Ashes!!”
The Heaven Smiting Sword smashed forward heavily, instantly slashing apart this world of darkness as its sweeping blade formed a true vacuum which extended out more than ten meters in diameter. The frenzied Golden Crow flames ignited and spread like wildfire as they fiercely penetrated every nook and cranny of this dark world. In the blink of an eye, the world within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest seemed to be engulfed in crimson black lava that looked tyrannical enough to annihilate everything.
Darkness and fire tore at one another and in the midst of this catastrophic collision, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign and Yun Che resumed their battle once more. This time, the man and the devil no longer bothered testing each other’s strength. Every claw and sword stroke was sent out with full force. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s expression was so warped that it barely resembled anything normal anymore. The roars coming from his mouth no longer held his previous devilish majesty, instead, they sounded malevolent and terrifying. All of the veins in Yun Che’s body were burning and every stroke of his sword was accompanied by a hoarse cry of fury.
Lightless Eternal Night, Yellow Springs Ashes… Both of them had activated startlingly powerful domains, yet both attacks were confined within the tiny interior of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. The current Moon Slaughter Devil Nest could not merely be called a world that had been stricken by calamity, it had practically become a hell of destruction! It would not matter if the living or the dead entered this place, because within a few short seconds, they would all be reduced to nothingness.
Even though it had become such a realm of destruction, both opponents still continued to crazily claw at each other within.
Yun Che’s clothes had long since been blown to shreds. His skin was a startling crimson-black color and his entire body was covered with hundreds of big and small holes, some of which were so deep that they nearly exposed bone. Many clusters of flame burned on the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s body as well but the two seemed to be completely indifferent to their own injuries and their opponent’s injuries. They did not care about what damage their respective domains wrought on each other and every single attack that was being made was extremely fierce and deadly… They were doing their utmost to consign their opponent to the grave!
One devil and one man had fought to the point where both parties seemed insane. Within the Sky Poison Pearl, Jasmine had been quietly observing this vicious fight. Just like the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, she had never thought that Yun Che could go toe to toe with the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign without exhausting all of his trump cards.
The most important reason for this was Hong’er… in other words, the existence of the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword!
Hong’er’s presence allowed Yun Che to completely escape the spiritual suppression that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had inflicted on him purely based on the fact that the level of his power far exceeded that of Yun Che. At the same time, this same suppression was instead visited upon the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign himself!
During this fierce and vicious duel, Yun Che had managed to maintain his eager and composed state of my mind. Yet the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, who had ten thousand times the amount of experience in cultivating his mental state, had been in a state of constant frenzied rage… and within this rage, Jasmine could still detect the uncontrollable trembling of his soul.
Furthermore, when the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s power approached Yun Che… or more accurately, approached the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword, it would instantly weaken by a full thirty percent! Such a great decline in power was not accompanied by any grand show or series of events, it simply seemed as if that power had suddenly vanished into thin air!
In other words, even though the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was using all of his strength, Yun Che only endured what amounted to seventy percent of his full power.
This point was something that Yun Che had not noticed but the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was well aware of it. Jasmine had also clearly detected this as well.
With all these factors added together, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, who was clearly far superior to Yun Che in every aspect, was drawn into a deadly struggle with Yun Che, something that he had not even dreamed possible.
And the source behind all of these factors was the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword!
A devil slayer sword was the bane of all devils.
But the constraints that the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword had placed on the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s far exceeded the effects of any other devil slayer sword that were recorded in the memories that Jasmine had inherited.
The name “Heaven Smiting Devil God Sword” that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had at first shouted out and then denied had caused an enormous ripple to resonate in Jasmine’s heart and up till now, she still could not calm her heart and mind.
——————————
The world inside the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was being turned upside down. But the outside world which was separated from it by that shimmering blue barrier was calm and peaceful.
The sky had gradually darkened but Feng Xue’er remained rooted to her original position. No matter how hard the ocean winds blew, she had not moved even half a step. Those pretty eyes which contained the most beautiful and brilliant light in the world remain focused solely on the shimmering blue barrier in front of them. Her gaze did not waver for even a second, as if she was afraid that she would miss something in that instant.
Xia Yuanba flew over from far away before finally arriving at Feng Xue’er’s side. It had been more than eight hours since Yun Che had been sealed within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. In these eight hours, he had paced around the barrier that surrounded it countless times. He had tried his hardest to find anything abnormal about the barrier but he was unable to detect even the slightest ripple of profound energy.
Feng Xue’er stood there in a complete daze, her eyes vacant. Xia Yuanba’s heart was pained at that sight and once more, he tried to comfort her in a soft voice, “Little Sister Xue’er, you should go back to the Ocean Palace to rest first. Your father and family are definitely extremely worried about you. I will keep watch over this place and the moment Brother-in-law comes out, I will inform you immediately… you know, your father came here about an hour ago. He surveyed us from a distance before leaving again.”
“…I want to wait here for Big Brother Yun.” Feng Xue’er murmured in a soft and gentle voice, “If I am not here when he comes out of that place, he will definitely be worried.”
“…” Xia Yuanba gave a quiet sigh and did not attempt to advise her any further. He flew to the spot that was directly above the middle of the barrier as he tried to detect any changes that occurred in this silent world. Before today, he had never thought that this girl, who was more gently beautiful than the purest snow, would have such a stubborn and obstinate side to her.
“Ah but women… they really are troublesome.” Xia Yuanba quietly muttered to himself with emotion, “I think it would be better if I don’t find a wife for my entire life.”
Chapter 782 - Devil Transformation
Boom boom boom…
It was as if countless bolts of heavenly lightning were exploding in the air as more and more of the black stone that had been tempered by the darkness energy for ten thousand years began to crumble apart. Then, the stone fragments were fiercely sucked into the powerful currents of profound energy flowing through the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. Fire light shot out in all directions as darkness saturated the air. The Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’s quaking did not abate in the slightest.
Both man and devil had been bogged down in furious combat for an unknown period of time. The wounds on both their bodies were too numerous to count but the power that exploded out from the both of them were still sufficient to shake the heavens and move the earth. In both of his lives, Yun Che had gone through countless life-and-death battles but none of those battles had lasted as long nor been as vicious as this one.
Even though Yun Che had entered the highest tier of profound strength that existed within the Profound Sky Continent, there were still many people from the Four Great Sacred Grounds who could defeat him.
However in terms of endurance and recovery ability, he was undoubtedly number one in the entire Profound Sky Continent.
When he had dueled with Fen Juechen several months ago, he had not known that Hong’er was able to restrict his powers. So he had to rely on his absurdly strong recovery ability to outlast Fen Juechen and defeat him. But today, he had met an opponent whose endurance and recovery ability was no less than his own.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign who possessed a devil body!!
Their fight had lasted for several hours but every blow that they sent at each other was still deadly and incisive. However, their power, speed, and the sharpness of their attacks had clearly declined. Both of them had been similarly weakened, so neither party could gain a clear edge.
Boom!!
The Heaven Smiting Sword clashed with the devil claws of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign in midair as another thunderous explosion resounded. A large amount of black stone was pounded into dust by the aftershock of that attack, causing the air in the entire Moon Slaughter Devil Nest to grow gray and hazy.
Darkness energy and Golden Crow flames crazily circulated around the two as the respective energies attempted to tear away and devour one another. It was literally like seeing two vicious beasts which hated each other engage in combat.
Bang!!
The ground that had already begun to sink beneath their feet started to fracture even more. The stone ceiling above their heads had also begun to resemble a giant dome. At this point, the devil claws that clashed with Yun Che’s heavy sword suddenly drew back. With a howl of fury, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign thrust out both his hands. Ten ebon beams of profound light shot out from each of histen emaciated, claw-like fingers as they stabbed towards Yun Che’s chest.
Yun Che’s body unconsciously started to move backwards. Through sheer force of will, he stubbornly stopped his first reaction, forcing his body to stay put. He neither tried to dodge, nor counter strike, instead pouring all of the profound energy protecting his body into his arms. As the pupils of eyes contacted, he sent his sword sweeping towards the chest of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign.
The boundless pressure generated by this sword stroke threatened to collapse the space in a thirty meter radius around them.
Boom!
The sword beam generated by the Heaven Smiting Sword fiercely swept across the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s chest. There was a sickening snap as the largest bone in his chest was smashed into several pieces and his body was flung hundreds of meters away.. However, all ten beams of the dark devil energy that were shot out by the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign also stabbed into Yun Che’s body, causing his vision to go dark as his body stumbled back furiously. However, both his hands still remained tightly locked around the vermillion greatsword and he refused to allow it to leave his hands.
A miserable howl of pain rang out as the longest vermillion sword wound to date had been inflicted on the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s chest. The wound also brought along pain and trauma that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had never experienced before. The heavy sword energy that surged out from the vermillion sword wound on his chest, poured into his devil body as it wreaked wanton destruction on his body and already weakened life force.
Even though a long time had passed, Yun Che remained sitting slumped on the ground and still had not gotten up yet. The ten beams of dark devil energy that bored into his body were like ten devilish needles that came from the depths of the underworld themselves. They ate away at his flesh, meridians and internal organs, wracking his body with so much pain that even his soul could barely stand it.
He pressed his lips together tightly, refusing to let even a hiss of pain escape his lips.
“Stop inhaling right now. Use the cleansing power of the Phoenix flames and the destructive power of the Evil God’s profound energy!” Jasmine exclaimed in a low voice, “You are really far too reckless! That energy originated from a true devil! If it enters your body, no ordinary profound energy will be able to cleanse it away! If not for you possessing the profound energy of the Evil God and the cleansing power of the Phoenix flames, you would have basically thrown away half your life there and then!”
Yun Che fiercely gritted his teeth while quickly regaining his composure. Phoenix flames began to swiftly circulate throughout his body as he also used the Evil God’s profound energy to wrap up those ten beams of dark devil energy. In a short amount of time, all ten beams of devilish energy were sealed tightly before they were purified by both the Phoenix flames and Evil God’s profound energy working in tandem.
Pfft!
Yun Che lurched forward as a large amount of black blood sprayed from his mouth. All of the energy in his body, as well as his five senses, became clear. Unfortunately, his aura had weakened by yet another degree.
But it was clear that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was in a far worse situation.
Yun Che had taken those ten beams of devilish energy in order to land an extremely heavy blow on the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s miserable cries of incredible pain sent a loud and clear message to Yun Che; that he had gotten the better of that exchange! Even though the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had already gotten to his feet, the vermillion light clearly showed a hole the size of a human head carved into his chest. Black blood poured out from that hole and Yun Che could even see the broken pitch-black bones jutting out from inside.
Even though the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign tried his best not to cry out, the uncontrollable spasming of his body clearly showed how much pain he was enduring. However, his alarm was far greater than his pain!
Even though his vitality had been sapped, he still had a devil body! No matter how weak a devil body was, it was still something that a mortal’s body could not hope to compete with! Furthermore, due to the lingering devil energy within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, his wounds and his energy were recovering far faster than they normally did.
He had been forced to use his profound energy from the very start, after such a long and vicious battle, only half his profound energy remained. Given that his opponent had the body of a mortal, his energy should have long been exhausted. But the young human in front of him was weakening at the same rate as he was!
Even the wounds on his body, carved out by the corrosive dark devil energy, were recovering at a rate that completely defied logic.
As for his own wounds… The burns left behind by the Golden Crow flames were still manageable, but the wounds left behind by that vermillion greatsword were another thing altogether! Not only did every one of them caused him immense and unbearable pain, they were recovering at a rate that was more than ten times slower than usual!
“You… who exactly are you!?” As he saw Yun Che, who had taken all ten beams of his devil energy, get up so quickly and calmly, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s pupils widened. He pressed both hands against the hole in his chest and every single finger was trembling as he continued, “You’re not human… what exactly are you!?”
His voice now quivered with fear.
Even the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was surprised to hear the fear in his own voice.
He had originally thought that he had encountered a human with a death wish.
Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that he would meet a monster among human beings!!
Given that inferior human body, how could he possess this kind of vitality and recovery ability… Furthermore, all of this was occurring while he was stuck in an environment where darkness energy was sapping away at his life at every second!
The sword Yun Che held in his hand was also far more dreadful than any other sword the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had seen during the Primordial Era!!
Even when he had faced off against a true devil slayer sword all those years ago, he had not been seized by this unconscious trembling that he was feeling right now.
“My name is Yun Che and you will find no man more ordinary than I!” Yun Che said as he strode slowly towards the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, “Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign! The era of gods and devils has long since come to a close! A million years ago, you should have stopped existing in this world! Today, regardless of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, I would still have to consign you to the grave!!”
“Consign this king to the grave? With just you!?” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign growled through gritted teeth. No matter how bad his situation became, he had never imagined he would ever be reduced to such a pathetic state! And at the hands of a human at that! Boundless fury and humiliation ate away at his already fading rationality and he suddenly let out a furious roar as his entire body was engulfed in a gloomy black fog. At the same time, the crimson black devil tattoos on his chest and back began radiating a deep bloody light.
“You arrogant, ignorant and pathetic human being… this king will let you know just how strong the devil clan is! If you think you alone are capable of defeating this king… you need to stop dreaming!!”
The blood red devil tattoos began to twist and warp as they gradually formed into row upon row of strange runes. The hair on the Moon Devil Sovereign’s head grew even longer as all the bones in his body cracked so loudly that it sounded like a boulder had fractured. The muscles on his body swelled explosively as all four of his limbs instantly doubled in thickness. The blood red meridians present throughout his entire body twisted like earthworms.
A low, pain-filled, roar tore from the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s throat as his body distorted and twisted like a thrashing snake. Jet-black scales quickly appeared on his skin, covering his entire body., A layer of dense, white bone armor grew on his arms and legs. It was as if his bones had been spat out from his flesh so they could wrap around his muscles instead.
This dreadful and bizarre transformation sent a jolt of shock through Yun Che’s heart and he immediately stopped moving forward. At the same time, he could clearly feel the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s aura spike tremendously… Furthermore, it had also become even more sinister and tyrannical than before.
“It’s a transformation!” Jasmine’s exclaimed in a similarly shocked voice but Yun Che heard more caution than alarm.
“All of the ancient devils were able to transform themselves! This type of transformation is different from the shapechange that you are familiar with. It is a method that transforms the body to allow for greater control and release of power. After the transformation is complete, that person will be able to use all of his power. However, the burden on his body and the amount of energy being consumed will greatly increase as well. They would normally only transform into their full-powered state when they were drawn into life-and-death battles! There are some devils that can even undergo multiple transformations as well.”
Zzzt!!
A pair of teeth, which glowed with a dense cold light, extended out of his mouth. They looked like the fangs of a wolf as they flashed with a glaring cold light. Sinister bone spikes had also grown out of his elbows and knees… Finally, the imprint of a blood moon had shockingly appeared on his chest!!
This was the imprint that belong solely to him, the king of the Eternal Night Devil Clan!
During the Primordial Era, this imprint would cause ten thousand devils to bend their knee in submission! But today, a mere human had forced it out!
His fury and power began to spike crazily as the whirling darkness energy coalesced into howling gales. This completely stopped Yun Che’s breath as an incomparably heavy pressure assaulted him from all sides, nearly crushing his chest and bending his back.
“His power… has actually risen by a massive amount in just an instant!!” Yun Che, who had originally intended to assault the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign while he was in the midst of his transformation, was slowly being forced backwards by the sharply increasing devil energy. He used both hands to brace himself as a deep expression of shock appeared on his face.
Jasmine let out a emotionless and cold laugh instead, “The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign definitely never imagined that you would be able to force him to transform! The current Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign is a far cry from the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign from the Primordial Era! Given his extremely depleted life force, not only will he have to pay an extremely high price for his transformation but it won’t last long either! Otherwise, he would not have waited until now to transform!”
“In his current state, it won’t be easy to go toe-to-toe with him. You’ll need to use Star God’s Broken Shadow and Extreme Mirage Lightning to engage him! However, in these tight and narrow confines, it seems like it’s nearly impossible to do so!” Jasmine’s brows twitched before she made a decision, “Activate your Profound Handle! Even though it will increase the amount of energy you’re consuming and might not help you span the power gap of transformed Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, at least… the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign won’t have such an easy time of defeating you while he is transformed!”
“Alright!” Yun Che nodded his head as he changed his grip on his sword, putting his left arm forward instead of his right.
Chapter 783 - Blooming of the Udumbara
“Haa… haa… haa…”
At last, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign finished his transformation. However, for something that would have taken a mere instant in the past, even he had not imagined it now required such a long period of time. Now transformed, the aura of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had grown immensely, the dark devil energy surrounding his body doubling in thickness and density. Yet, his expression lacked any hint of arrogance or complacency that typically came with absolute power. Rather, it seemed to radiate with sinister fury… and hatred.
Since he was not the same Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign he was one million years ago, this transformation had further delayed the full restoration of his life origin by at least another thousand years!!
He had felt this very clearly… had he chosen not to transform, he would have very possibly met his end by Yun Che’s hands on this very day!
“In my current state, this king will need no more than ten breaths to kill you!!
“Die!!”
The transformation had greatly increased the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s power, but the enormous burden it put on him made him feel as if his body was going to fall apart at any moment. Without any further delay, he took to the air with a furious roar and rushed towards Yun Che. The sudden change in speed spread waves of alarm through Yun Che’s heart.
After the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign transformed, his speed had also massively increased. Yun Che immediately determined that the current speed of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign exceeded his own when he was using Extreme Mirage Lightning! This also meant that even if this place was a wide and boundless region instead of the cramped Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, he could forget about using speed to escape!
Devil energy swirled in the air as sinister winds whistled about. As the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign shot into the air, he had caused all the broken stone fragments to whirl upwards. The terrifying and incredible wind pressure had actually gouged deep grooves into the incredibly tough ground!
His two dark devil claws had grown twice as large and were wrapped in dark light. They seemed to morph into dragon claws as they ripped at Yun Che… Though they were three hundred meters away, they still caused Yun Che’s body to freeze as his feet seemed to sink into the ground.
Yun Che’s gaze focused coldly. After taking a deep breath, he used Star God’s Broken Shadow to instantly escape.
Boom——
The claws of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign smashed fiercely onto the ground, immediately shattering all the stone walls in a thirty-meter radius. Even Yun Che, who had managed to dodge in the nick of time, was smashed in the chest by the roaring and billowing dark energy waves. He let out a low moan as he rolled backwards.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign sent blow after blow flying through the air without much aiming yet all of them immediately home in on Yun Che. His body was sent flying through the air as an enormous dark shadow completely engulfed him.
Yun Che swiftly turned around in midair. All of the profound energy in his body circulated as the figure of the Phoenix and Golden Crow simultaneously appeared behind his back. His left arm also lit up with a strange blue light as the vermillion flashing greatsword, wreathed in the divine fires of both the Phoenix and the Golden Crow, exploded downwards.
Even though Yun Che was facing the transformed Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign who had gotten significantly stronger, he still decided to go with a simple head-to-head clash!
Rrrmb!!
Darkness and flames instantly clashed and interweaved, becoming an ocean of catastrophic energy that blindly engulfed everything within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.
Within this ocean of calamitous energy, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign howled in anger as his long hair fluttered haphazardly in the wind. He felt his power being obstructed and immediately raised his head to let out a great laugh… However, this laughter lasted for just a split second before it cut off… because his power had actually been unable to break through the resistance and destroy Yun Che. Instead, all he could see was his power being forced to a ten-meter standstill, unable to advance even an inch further.
“Wha… what!?” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s pupils grew large. He could feel that there hadn’t been any change to Yun Che’s aura, but beside him, another aura had suddenly appeared! This aura was roughly only half as strong as Yun Che himself but together with Yun Che, it had managed to somehow block his power!
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign let out another furious roar as he raised both of his bone-plated arms. Those shockingly huge arms began to swell up even more before he began to launch a torrent of blows at Yun Che. Terrifying dark devil energy surged like a tsunami as they exploded towards Yun Che, who had nowhere left to run or hide.
“Haah!!” Yun Che let out a furious shout of his own as he swung the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword with all his strength. Every sword stroke launched a profound energy storm that was powerful enough to annihilate everything that stood in its path. Beside him, the Profound Handle which had taken the form of a heavy sword also danced alongside the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword. Both heavy swords wove a dance of blades as they formed an extremely tyrannical and powerful “Heavy Sword Domain” around Yun Che which expelled the dark devil energy out of it.
“This… this is impossible!!”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s scalp went numb as his pupils grew even larger. When Yun Che held off his attacks before, it had already far exceeded his expectations. Moreover, it also forced him to pay a heavy price and transform into his battle form. He had thought that once he released all of his power, he would have the power to completely flatten Yun Che and that would have been as easy as flipping his palm. Not once had he ever imagined that the attack he launched after his transformation would actually be completely blocked by Yun Che!
He released his power in a frenzy and every single time he attacked, he did so with all of his might. He held nothing back. Even after thousands of continuous blows, Yun Che still stood there alive, having smashed aside every single one of his attacks!!
“AHHHHHHH!!!”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s fluttering hair immediately stood on end as the imprint of the blood moon on his chest shone with a ghastly and terrifying crimson black light. Every single devil tattoo on his body also began to shine with a frightening, bloody light.
All of the dark devil energy came to a stop in that very instant and an absolute silence instantly settled over the world. It was as if time itself had suddenly stopped. Following that, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign let out a howl which seemed to come from the depths of purgatory as all the darkness energy in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest began to dance furiously as they merged together to form a gigantic devil god that seemed to come from the depths of the underworld. The giant mass of darkness energy surged forward, swallowing up the tiny and insignificant Yun Che into the boundless and endless darkness.
“Eternal Night’s Oblivion!!”
The boundless darkness pressed down from all directions as it devoured light, devoured space and even devoured his heavy sword storm. In the next instant, it might just devour him and his profound handle completely as well.
No shock or fear appeared on Yun Che’s face. His gaze grew dark and cold and the flames on his body, which were burning with all their might, intensified by yet another degree. Raising both the greatsword in his hand and the heavy sword that the Profound Handle had become at the same time, he released two vast and boundless auras which would even cause the heavens and earth to lose color.
“Destroying Sky Decimating Earth!!”
BOOOM!!!!
The terrifying explosion consumed all the other sounds in this tiny world.
Terrifying energy explosions spread all over the place as both the air and the ground shook. Even space itself recoiled at this dreadful energy as the shrill wail of space being torn asunder echoed through the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.
Following that, three kilometers of space instantly collapsed. In front of this kind of power, space itself had become as weak and fragile as a thin sheet of paper.
Black holes of various sizes instantly flashed into existence before fading out as quick as they appeared.
Yun Che and the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign naturally had to endure the massive impact and aftershocks left in the wake of the rampaging energy explosions.
The two of them were forced three hundred meters apart. If not for the extremely hard and durable black stone walls blocking their flight, they might have been pushed tens of kilometers away by the impact.
Yun Che leaned on a stone wall as he slowly got to his feet. By the time he stood up, the black stone wall collapsed with a loud bang.
Streams of blood poured down the blade of the Heaven Smiting Sword. His arms had largely borne the impact of that terrifying energy blast. The webs between his thumb and his index finger on both hands were split, many wounds had appeared on both his arms and he had sustained more than ten fractures by the impact alone. But he did not feel the slightest bit of pain… He just felt a numbness that was overly intense, so intense that he lost nearly all feeling in both his arms. It was his willpower and determination alone that allowed him to still firmly grasp that five-hundred-thousand-kilogram sword.
The Profound Handle had disappeared as well. It had been blasted to pieces by that energy blast—but the Profound Handle was a power that came from his bloodline. Even if it was shattered another ten thousand times, he could still summon it once again.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s injuries looked far lighter than Yun Che’s. Other than the chest bone that Yun Che had previously broken, only the bone spike on his right arm had been snapped, as blood freely flowed down that arm.
But that was just how things appeared. In reality, his situation was far worse than Yun Che. Because if Yun Che activated his Profound Handle, he only increased the consumption of his profound energy.
But when the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was transformed, not only did he consume more energy, his body also had to endure an enormous burden! And he had just been desperately using all of his power in spite of this, so one could well imagine what the consequences would be.
If Yun Che got a bit closer, he would be able to see that the scales and bone plating on his body were astonishingly covered with many tiny cracks.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s body went limp as he sank to the ground numbly, unable to climb up for quite some time. The dark pupils of his eyes contracted fearfully as though he was trapped in a nightmare.
“Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign… have you… already… reached your limit!?”
Yun Che dragged the Heaven Smiting Sword behind him as he walked slowly towards the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. His voice had become hoarse, his feet felt like lead, and his breathing had become incredibly heavy and rough. Whether it was the Profound Handle or the “Destroying Sky Decimating Earth” technique, all of them had consumed an extremely large amount of his energy. Coupled with the wounds he had sustained on his arms and his internal organs, he was in an incredibly bad state.
But he could tell that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was in even worse shape than he was! Even though he could still maintain his transformation, his aura had dropped to the point where it was even weaker than Yun Che’s.
Even if the wounds on his body were ten times worse, Yun Che would not waste time worrying over things… because he absolutely could not give the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign a chance to catch his breath.
“You… you aren’t… human!!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign forced himself to his feet. He tried with all his might to gather devil energy but it was as if his devil body had transformed into a leaky wooden bucket. No matter how he tried to gather his energy, he was unable to suppress Yun Che’s aura.
So now, he was completely incapable of believing that Yun Che was a human being… Given a human being’s weak physique, how could he have a vitality and endurance that even exceeded his own!
“Sorry to disappoint you! I am a human being raised on the very soil of the Profound Sky Continent! Today is the day that you will die… and it is the result of looking down on humans!”
The feeling in his arms began to come back as intense pain replaced numbness. Yun Che started gasping heavily as he tightened his grip around the Heaven Smiting Sword.
“Heeheeheehee… Kekekehahahaha… Huhuhuhu… Wahahahaha…”
It was at this moment that an extremely dreadful and sinister laugh rang out from the depths of the cave behind the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. It sounded like laughter and wailing mixed together, and just hearing it would cause one’s blood to go cold as all the fear in one’s body congealed to one spot.
Yun Che’s feet subconsciously ground to a halt. That was the sound emitted by the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. From what he remembered, he had only heard the ghastly wailing of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower when his group had come within a hundred and fifty meters of it. Whether it was due to them leaving or his vicious battle with the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, once he left that radius, he was no longer able to hear that sound.
Right now, he was standing roughly one and a half kilometers away from the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, yet he could clearly hear that ghostly wail, as if it was right by his ear! Furthermore, it sounded even more sinister and soul-shaking than before. Just hearing it caused Yun Che’s heart to tremble.
At this moment, a wild and triumphant smile suddenly appeared on the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s face.
“The heavens are aiding this king… ha… hahahahaha!!”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign let out a wild and crazy laugh as he crazily circulated all the remaining energy in his body. He allowed all the wounds on his body to split open and as a fierce current of darkness energy streamed around his body, he rushed towards the depths of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.
Yun Che was dazed for an instant. But following that, his expression changed. Could it be that…
“You need to stop him immediately!!” Jasmine suddenly shouted. “It must be because the Netherworld Udumbara fully bloomed! It holds a giant amount of nether yin energy and if he consumes it, not only will his soul origin be repaired fully, it will also replenish his strength and rapidly heal all his wounds!”
Bang!!
All of the profound energy in Yun Che’s body flared as the wounds all over his arms ripped open, spraying fresh blood everywhere. He immediately put the Heaven Smiting Sword away, his body blurring into streak of lightning as he chased after the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign.
Chapter 784 - Desperate Straits
“Hahahaha… hahahahaha! The heavens are aiding this king, the heavens are aiding this king!!”
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign laughed as he madly sprinted forward. His laughter was even more wanton and arrogant than it had ever been before. The Netherworld Udumbara Flower only bloomed once every twenty four years and it was this moment that he anticipated the most every twenty four years. Furthermore, this time he was many times more excited by it than ever before!!
Because this time, not only would the Netherworld Udumbara Flower repair his tattered soul origin, it would also greatly boost his soul power, vitality and profound energy for a short while! It would even increase the recovery of his wounds by several times! Before, all of these effects were useless to him but right now, they could completely change his destiny!!
The past few days, he perched on the ceiling above the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, spending every second keeping watch over it, patiently waiting for the moment when it fully bloomed. Now that it had finally bloomed, it was like the heavens themselves had given him a gift as it had bloomed when he needed it the most.
He only needed a short span of twenty breaths to consume the fully bloomed Netherworld Udumbara Flower, which would allow his dark profound energy to mostly recover! During the vicious battle with Yun Che, he had come out only slightly worse than Yun Che. Thus, if he could recover to that extent, he would definitely be able to turn the tables on Yun Che and suppress him completely!
“You must catch up to him!! If he devours that Netherworld Udumbara Flower, your death will be all but assured!!” Jasmine’s voice was filled with immeasurable solemnity and resentment… Given her level of power, if they were in any other location, she would need a mere instant to extinguish the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign!
But the battle just had to take place here. In this place, she could not even leave Yun Che’s body, much less use her powers!
Yun Che used all of his profound energy as he pushed the Extreme Mirage Lightning technique to its utmost limit, gritting his teeth so hard they nearly broke. When it came to the amount of profound energy they had consumed, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had roughly used the same amount as him but when it came to their injuries, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had clearly been injured worse than him. This coupled with the fact that Yun Che’s speed had always been superior to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s speed in the first place meant that Yun Che was quickly catching up to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, even though both of them were traveling at their fastest speed. In the blink of an eye, he had forcefully closed the gap between them to about one hundred and fifty meters.
Now that all of his profound energy was devoted to increasing his speed, not only did the internal and external injuries he had sustained stop stabilizing, they quickly began to grow worse… But in the current situation, he could not afford to pay attention to that.
He should… be able to catch up!!
Within a few breaths, he had rushed into the depths of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest and pulled within one hundred meters of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. The wailing laughter of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, echoing in his ear, became increasingly clear as he drew closer and closer.
Suddenly, Jasmine noticed something as she shouted in alarm, “Wait! Wait! Stop chasing him!!”
At this moment, a fantastical ghostly light had suddenly emerged within Yun Che’s eyes.
The previously curled-up Netherworld Udumbara Flower was finally fully bloomed, its nine fully unfurled petals arranged prettily as it released an extremely deep and gloomy purple light. In the darkness, that gloomy purple light completely engulfed everything. Yun Che was not able to see the base of the flower or the stamen and he could not see the gently swaying stalk either. It was as if those nine flower petals were floating in a sea of darkness as they released a mysterious and dangerous bewitching purple light.
Reflected in Yun Che’s eyes was… It was as if he had suddenly seen nine demonic eyes!!
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign gave a wild and triumphant laugh as he had already rushed in front of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. He could sense Yun Che quickly closing in behind him but he did not turn around, the blood-smeared corner of his mouth hooking into a cold and mocking grin.
Ding!
The world in front of Yun Che changed from a dark world streaked with purple light to a completely white one that was still streaked with purple. Even the sounds around him had suddenly died down… the sound of wind that roared in his ears, due to the speed he was traveling, had vanished into thin air.
The only sound that was left was the ghostly wailing of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower.
The whole world seemed to have transformed into a field of white in an instant.
Purple light swiftly spread within this white world as it gradually stained the entire world. The ghostly wailing began growing closer and closer, clearer and clearer. The sound was even growing more and more beautiful and pleasing to the ear… It slowly changed from the sinister and bone-grating sound he had first heard to something which sounded as sweet and melodious as notes from heaven…
The purple world and the sweet and beautiful melody were able to drown a person in a fantastical dreamscape. Within this dreamscape, familiar scenes and faces began to appear. Cang Yue, Feng Xue’er, Xiao Lingxi, Xia Qingyue, Chu Yuechan, the Little Demon Empress… Each of them appeared one after the other and every one of them had the most gentle and beautiful of smiles on their faces. One pair of beautiful eyes after another gently gazed at him as the purple world slowly began to drift away…
Further and further… more and more hazy…
“Yun Che! Retreat immediately!!”
A shrill shout resounded like thunder in the purple world.
Bang!!
The purple-colored dream world instantly shattered as all the illusions disappeared. After that, an enormous pain assaulted Yun Che. It felt as if hundreds or thousands of steel needles were piercing his heart and soul, causing him to hold his head with both hands as hoarse wails of pain escaped his throat.
He felt as if countless dark hands were tearing at his soul, as if they were trying to pluck all the memories, will and beliefs… from his living body!
Yun Che had experienced mental assaults and battles of the soul far too many times but none of them had been as terrifying and cruel as this one. This feeling of his soul tearing and ripping felt colder and clearer than a knife carving into his body… He had never known nor had he ever imagined that mental assaults could be this terrifying!!
As his soul struggled in pain, he nearly lost control of his power and body. His entire person knelt on the ground as his body shivered crazily, his forehead matted in cold sweat.
Moreover, he was still a full sixty meters away from the Netherworld Udumbara Flower!!
“Hurry up and retreat!!”
Jasmine’s voice cracked like thunder in his head once more, helping Yun Che recover some modicum of clarity as he was engaged in a fierce struggle for his soul. He gave a fierce howl as he desperately gathered and focused all of his energy, tumbling backwards in an extremely distorted and painstaking fashion.
Bang!!
Yun Che’s head fiercely hit the ground and he rolled and tumbled backwards several times before coming to a stop. During this bumpy ride, he had rolled backwards more than sixty meters. It still felt like his soul was being torn to shreds but it had weakened to the point where he could easily deal with it.
Yun Che propped himself up using his arms as he gasped for breath. Cold sweat streamed down his forehead and rarely-seen fear and alarm could be seen in his eyes.
So that was the… Netherworld Udumbara Flower’s soul stealing ability!?
To think that it was this dreadful… Why was it this dreadful!!?
He was still so far away just now, but it was already that terrifying! If he went even nearer in order to harvest it… The results would have been unimaginable!
How could such a terrifying thing exist in this world!?
“Now do you believe me?” Jasmine said with an extremely solemn expression on her face, “Once the Netherworld Udumbara Flower fully blooms, its soul stealing ability will be far more terrifying than you can imagine! It is definitely not something that a person from your plane can come into contact with!!”
Yun Che did not voice a reply to Jasmine, instead his head jerked upwards… Ahead of him, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign already stood in front of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. That gray-white face was spread wide by an arrogant, mocking grin. He greedily stared at those nine ghostly purple petals as he got drunk on the hellish aura that radiated from them. But he did not forget to cast a wanton, mocking grin in the fallen Yun Che’s direction, “Foolish and pathetic human being! To think that you even dared to dream of snatching the Netherworld Udumbara Flower from this king… hahahahaha…”
The wild laughter suddenly abated and the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s face twisted into a mask of fury while his voice grew thick with bone-grating rage and resentment, “It was you… who forced this king to transform, causing me to greatly harm my life origin as a result! Even if you lose your pathetic life ten thousand times, it would not be enough to assuage this king’s rage! After this king consumes this Netherworld Udumbara Flower… I will definitely allow you to experience all of the torture known to my devil race! I’ll leave you begging for death! I’ll make you forever regret being born into this world!!”
He turned his head back, his eyes completely focused on the nearby Netherworld Udumbara Flower. His previous violent fury immediately turned into ecstasy and agitation. He stretched out both his devil claws, covering them with black light as he slowly reached towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower… His movements were so slow and gentle that it looked like he was going to handle the most precious treasure he possessed in his life.
“Ssss—” Yun Che gritted his teeth so hard that they almost broke. Just thinking about the dreadfulness of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower left him drenched in cold sweat. So this short distance that laid between him and the flower had now become a natural chasm that he could not cross!
No! No matter what, he had to stop the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign…
The reason I risked it all to stay behind in this place was to obtain that Netherworld Udumbara Flower! If the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign consumes it, not only will it be extremely likely that it will be the only of one of its kind to exist in this world, the lives of Hong’er, Jasmine and I will be lost forever in this dark place!
So I have to stop it no matter what!
No matter what!!
Both of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s claws were touching the Netherworld Udumbara Flower as he prepared to slowly pluck it… Even though his movements were slow, his hands still trembled, his expression even contained a hint of fanaticism and devotion! As an ancient devil, he had never believed in any higher power. Nor was there any higher power worthy of his belief. But this Netherworld Udumbara Flower had become a sacred existence to him. Without it, he would have disintegrated into dust long ago! Moreover, it was only by relying on it that his soul origin could be fully recovered and he could see the light of day once more!
So every time he plucked it, he was exceedingly careful as he was afraid that he would hurt it. He had never fully absorbed all of the energy in this place, he would always ensure that enough of it remained so it could continue to nurture the Netherworld Udumbara Flower.
Black light wrapped around the nine petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. In the next instant, he would perfectly pluck all nine of these petals… But at this moment, an extremely dangerous aura assaulted him from behind.
Yun Che bounced to his feet as he summoned the Heaven Smiting Sword and his Profound Handle once more. He nearly raised all the profound energy in his body to its limit in one instant as his sword and the Profound Handle blazed with gold-colored Golden Crow flames. After that, he launched an explosive attack in front of him.
“Phoenix Sky Wolf Slash!”
Poof!!
Flowers of blood sprayed from his arms once more as the huge aftershock of his attack sent him tumbling fiercely backwards. The two images of a flaming Sky Wolf carried furiously vibrating spatial ripples as they exploded towards the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign!
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had never thought that Yun Che, who had clearly exhausted most of his profound energy, would still be able to launch such a ferocious attack. Furthermore, the two images of the Sky Wolf were moving at an exceedingly fast speed. Because the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had devoted all of his attention to the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, he had only detected those two attacks when they were barely ten meters away from him.
Bang!!!
Both burning images of the Sky Wolf viciously rammed into the back of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. He gave a strangled cry as the black-colored scales on his back immediately exploded. Black blood flew through the air as severely deformed bones. that had yet to break, were exposed. His entire devil body shot outwards like a cannon before fiercely smashing against a stone wall that was three hundred meters away. He slid to the ground in a slump, not getting up for a very long time.
“It… succeeded!!” Yun Che said as he propped himself up using his sword. His vision suddenly went black and he nearly toppled over. The Sky Wolf Slash that he had just performed had exceeded the limits of his strength through sheer force of will. Furthermore, he also had to use energy to activate his Profound Handle. The enormous amount of energy he had used caused his body to feel drawn and weak for a while and he could barely hold the Heaven Smiting Sword steady.
But before he even had time to draw a few breaths, his pupils suddenly contracted fiercely.
His recent attack had been cleverly designed to avoid any damage to the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign did not wish for any harm to come to it and neither did Yun Che. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was blown away but the stalk of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower was practically untouched. However, of the nine glowing purple lights which swayed above it…
Shockingly, only four petals were left!
Furthermore, at the end of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, five gloomy purple lights were glowing where the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign laid!!
“Crap!” Jasmine exclaimed, “When he was blasted away, he managed to grab five flower petals!!”
Before Jasmine’s voice had fallen, Yun Che shot towards the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign like an loosened arrow… He took a look at the Netherworld Udumbara Flower that he avoided before crazily racing towards where the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign laid.
“Bastard!!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign struggled to get up, his back arched in pain. He felt as if a hole had been blasted clear through his chest. But the moment he was sent flying, he had also managed to grab the five petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower that were already in his hands. If not for Yun Che blasting him away, all nine of the flower petals would have fallen into his hands.
When he looked at the onrushing Yun Che, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign grew so furious that he felt as if he would explode, “You damned bastard!! Your struggles will only increase the pain that you are about to experience!!!”
As he roared in fury, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign grabbed those five gloomy and ghostly petals and tossed them towards his open mouth.
Yun Che’s expression suddenly went white as he yelled in a hoarse voice, “Shut your mouth!!”
Gulp!!
It was a simple swallowing motion, something that Yun Che would not be in time to stop even if he was ten times faster. He could only watch as those five petals fell into that wide devil mouth. He could only helplessly witness the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign swallowing them in one gulp.
Yun Che, “!!!”
Chapter 785 - Desperate Gamble
Shit!!
As he saw the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign swallow the petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, Yun Che felt an intense chill wash over his entire body.
In the end, the worst case scenario had still presented itself in front of his very eyes.
Not only had he missed the chance to get the desired Netherworld Udumbara Flower, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s wounds and powers would be recovering soon as well! Furthermore, this place was a region that was sealed shut, so even the Primordial Profound Ark would not be able to teleport out of here. It also happened that Jasmine was not able to materialize in this place!
So right now, this could be said to be the most cruel and desperate situation Yun Che had ever been in before.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign who had swallowed the petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower threw his arms wide open in ecstasy as he shut his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower’s power spreading through his body. An extremely soothing and comfortable feeling spread through his entire body, even down to depths of his soul, causing all the aches and pains that afflicted him to practically disappear.
The dark energy in his body also seemed to be recovering quickly… Yun Che and the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign could both sense it clearly. At this moment, all the wounds on his body started to glow with a faint purple light. After that, the wounds began recovering at such an alarming speed that Yun Che was able to witness the flesh mending and knitting right before his very eyes.
“Hahahaha!” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign laughed wildly. The moment he consumed the Netherworld Udumbara Flower was the moment of the greatest ecstasy for him. But this time, the feeling of ecstasy was far greater than it had ever been before. Once he thought of how Yun Che’s desperate struggles would only lead to despair in the end, his heart was seized by an intense joy, “Pathetic human! Let’s see how long you can struggle against this king this time around!”
“You will soon know the fate of those who have provoked and enraged this king! This king will let you experience the most dreadful purgatory in this world!”
“…” Yun Che’s whole body went cold as he sensed the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s aura begin to rise dramatically. His guts sank as he saw those wounds close before his very eyes but his mind still remained incredibly clear and focused despite the emotions washing over him…
The more desperate a situation got, the more clear-headed he would become!
Jasmine had said that given the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s current state, he would be able to recover most of his profound energy and be healed of most of his wounds within a mere hundred breaths! However, he had only consumed five flower petals rather than the entire flower, so it should take longer than that.
Even though being able to recover most of his energy and vitality just like that was truly astounding, in the end he still had one hundred breaths… So he would not be thrown into the pits of despair just yet!!
Furthermore, even though five petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower had been consumed… four petals still remained!
The power of the remaining four petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower… may just be enough to grant Jasmine a new life!! Even if they could not, it would definitely still be of great help.
Yun Che’s brows sank as his thoughts began to race… Right now, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was still seriously injured and he had used up most of his power as well. If he was able to kill him before he could recover with the Netherworld Udumbara Flower’s help, then…
No! There was no if! This was the only option left to him, the only hope he had left… Otherwise, he would definitely be dead meat once the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign recovered!!
However, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s aggregate power and current state was not far off from his own, given the fact that he also had a devil body… He had not even managed to critically injure him during their vicious battle that had lasted for hours! So trying to deliver a killing blow within the span of a few short breaths would be harder than reaching the heavens!
But the situation he was currently facing did not give Yun Che time to hesitate or consider. Because the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s strength continued to grow with each passing breath and his wounds continued to heal at a rapid pace!! This basically meant that each passing breath would cause the already miniscule spark of hope he had to constantly shrink! Perhaps after the next ten or twenty breaths, that already faint hope might disappear completely.
On the other hand, even if Yun Che had to think with his toes, he would be able to realize that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s following move would not be to engage him in combat. Rather, he would pour all his effort into shaking Yun Che off and rushing towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower! At that point, not only would the remaining four petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower fall into his devil hands… He was not even able to approach the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, so he could forget about struggling or hoping for victory!
Yun Che’s eyes widened as a resolute and vicious light radiated from within. Both his hands tightened fiercely around the hilt of the Heaven Smiting Sword. It was almost as if he wanted to embed it in his flesh… Now that he only had one option left to him, Yun Che tossed aside all thoughts of prices or aftermaths!
“Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign!!”
Yun Che roared in such a loud voice that it sounded like his throat would be torn apart. After a short pause, his speed explosively increased as he rushed towards the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign.
“Yun Che, you…”
Jasmine instantly realized what Yun Che was planning and she swallowed her words of warning before they even left her mouth… Because she knew that this was indeed the only option left to him.
He had not choice but to stake his very life on this gamble!
Even though it was extremely likely that he would explode on the spot, at least he could still grasp at that tiny sliver of hope!
“Evil God’s fourth realm, Rumbling Heaven!!”
Boom!!
An incredibly heavy rumbling sound resounded within Yun Che’s profound veins. All of his profound entrances were fully opened as the Evil God’s Profound Veins instantly swelled to twice their usual size… and they were coming close to rupturing!!
At the same time, a wild and frenzied energy wave exploded from his body as they shoved aside all the surrounding darkness energy! The dreadfulness of this energy wave caused the wildly laughing Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign to fly away as if he had been hit by a giant mallet. He flew through the air before smashing against one of the stone walls located in the very depths of the cave.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s laughter immediately grew strangled as he jerked his head upwards to look at Yun Che. The eyes that were filled with complacency and joy were now filled with an enormous dread…
The Yun Che who had been rushing at him had disappeared and what had taken his place was a man who was completely covered in blood, a blood person who was radiating a terrifying aura! Every single strand of his hair stood on end as flames burned around his body! And the profound energy that he was releasing was astonishingly dyed an eye-catching and alarming scarlet color! Both of his eyes seemed to have been dyed with blood as even the whites of his eyes had turned a bloody red!
Blood was spraying from his arms as countless alarming cracks started running through his skin, causing blood to spout from his body like a fountain. His entire body looked as if it had been stabbed thousands of times before it was dragged out of its own blood and one could scarcely see any part of his body that was left unharmed!
His appearance was so frightening that it would cause a normal person to pale in shock and fear but it definitely would not be able to faze the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. What frightened the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was the wild and berserk aura that was radiating from his body!!
If Yun Che’s aura could previously be described as a cluster of flames… then the blood man in front of him was releasing an aura that was akin to a violently erupting volcano from the depths of hell itself! It was so terrifying that all the nerves in the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s body convulsed as the soul that was being nourished by the Netherworld Udumbara Flower was instantly assaulted by an extreme sense of danger.
Furthermore, the blood man was holding a vermillion greatsword in his hand, that further proved that… this blood man was actually Yun Che!!
“You…” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign gasped as he pressed his back against the wall. He was not able to even croak out a chuckle anymore.
From the moment Yun Che had opened the “Rumbling Heaven” gate, his senses had been completely engulfed by unending pain. But at the same time, he could also feel an incomparably dreadful power exploding out of his body… Furthermore, this power far exceeded the limits of what his body could endure. He could clearly feel every part of his body rupturing the moment profound energy exploded from within his body… Even the world in front of him had turned blood red.
Besides that blood red color, he could not see anything else…
Only the spark of an unextinguishable will was still firmly locked onto the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s aura.
Raising arms that had nearly lost all feeling, he exhausted all of his will to barrel towards the area where the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s aura was located.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s pupils narrowed to pinpricks… One million years ago, this kind of power would’ve been so insignificant that he would not even deign to notice it. But for the current Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, it was a calamitous power that caused him to shake uncontrollably in fear.
He glanced at the purple light shining in the periphery of his vision. He wanted to rush to where the Netherworld Udumbara Flower was but every time he tried to move his devil body forward, he was forcefully pushed back by the terrifying aura that was rushing towards him. It was as if his back had been nailed to the wall behind him. Right now, he could barely even raise his leg, much less try to rush forward. It was as if every part of his body was being pressed down by an enormous mountain.
The vermillion sword beam grew nearer and nearer and the fear in the Moon Devil Sovereign’s eyes grew commensurately. He gave a great roar as all the power in his body surged forth desperately. He formed a jet-black vortex of energy that was ten thousand times darker than the deepest abyss and sent it flying towards Yun Che with a yell.
The moment that jet-black vortex exploded outwards, the Heaven Smiting Sword which carried the power of the “Rumbling Heaven” gate whistled downwards. Instantly, the jet-black vortex that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had formed with all his remaining energy came to a sudden stop. After that, it began to be suppressed, devoured and swallowed up by that vermillion sword beam… until it completely disappeared.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s vision was covered by boundless vermillion light, a copious amount of blood spraying into air as he bore the brunt of that catastrophic explosion. An earth-shaking rumble shook the entire Moon Slaughter Devil Nest as a howl laced with despair and pain rang throughout every corner…
Booom—
“UUUUWWWAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!”
Jet-black stone walls crumbled away rapidly as countless stone fragments fell to the ground. The entire Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was shaking and it seemed as if the heavens and the earth themselves were shaking along with it. Destructive winds blew throughout the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest as they collided and slammed into everything around them, destroying whatever they could destroy. Furthermore, the deepest part of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest had been completely filled by fiercely burning dull golden flames as a catastrophic storm raged about wantonly for ages…
This was the first time Yun Che had ever opened the “Rumbling Heaven” gate, so this was also the first sword slash that he had ever performed while the “Rumbling Heaven” gate was open. Jasmine was still unaware of the result of this sword slash. But what she could definitively confirm was that the current Yun Che was completely incapable of enduring the power unleashed by the “Rumbling Heaven” gate! Yun Che forcefully opened the “Rumbling Heaven” gate and his profound energy instantly went berserk, Jasmine could clearly see all of his internal organs rupturing as his veins snapped and blood flowed freely from his body. The only things that remained unbroken were his bones that were reinforced by the Dragon God Marrow.
It was only for that one instant… But every single second after that would cause the situation to worsen by many times!!
Perhaps it would only need two breaths for Yun Che’s body to explode and he definitely would not leave a whole body behind.
Given the dire straits that they were in, Jasmine could not afford to hesitate anymore. The moment Yun Che used all of his willpower to launch that blow with his sword, Jasmine’s soul body left the Sky Poison Pearl and entered Yun Che’s body. Four scarlet profound energy beams shot out at extreme speed as they pierced all of Yun Che’s internal organs and entered his profound veins. The four beams of light unerringly pressed on the four open Evil God Gates.
Jasmine’s power was so tyrannical that the instant those scarlet lights disappeared, the four open Evil God Gates had closed as well. The berserking profound energy immediately began to fade away. Jasmine breathed a small sigh of relief before she hurriedly entered the Sky Poison Pearl.
Her soul form was deathly afraid of the devil energy within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. Since Yun Che had been within the very depths of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest itself, it was natural that a small portion of that devil energy had seeped into his body. Even though Jasmine had only dwelt inside Yun Che’s body for a brief moment, she felt an exceedingly unbearable feeling spread through her body the moment she re-entered the Sky Poison Pearl.
Jasmine swiftly went into meditation and a long time passed before that unbearable feeling finally disappeared.
She opened her eyes once more as she took a look at the world outside.
Chapter 786 - Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer
The fires continued to burn but they had grown much smaller than before. The wild windstorm and the constant shaking of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest had also come to a stop. Yun Che lay limply on the ground, the muscles of his blood-drenched body spasming and twitching. Every now and then, hoarse moans could be heard from his mouth… proving not only that he was still alive but also that he still retained some semblance of consciousness.
“Yun Che, don’t even try to stand up. Immediately focus on activating the Great Way of the Buddha instead!” Jasmine quickly commanded him.
Jasmine’s voice caused the shuddering in Yun Che’s body to lessen. He no longer tried to struggle. Instead, he closed his eyes and devoted all his remaining strength to activating the Great Way of the Buddha. He could see through blurry eyes that his body was completely covered in blood, yet he did not feel the slightest bit of pain… it was as if his entire body did not belong to him anymore.
At the very end of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, more than ten paces to the right of Yun Che, several small clusters of flame still continued to burn. Astonishingly, the thing that had been set aflame was the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s devil body.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s left arm and both his legs had been severed from his body, lying strewn across the floor in scattered pieces. What remained was only his right arm which could barely be considered intact. Furthermore, his entire body had been completely shattered. It was as if he was mud that had been trampled over by an entire battalion of soldiers. And even this “mud” was still slowly being burned up and consumed by the Golden Crow flames.
“…This king… actually…”
The fingers on his right arm were trembling and a voice that sounded as rough as sandpaper came from the immobilized head of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign.
That voice caused Yun Che’s body to twitch. After that, he began to struggle furiously to get up. It was then that Jasmine’s low voice rang out, “Don’t worry about him, he’s already been smashed to bits and pieces by you. The reason why he can still speak is because he is using the very last bit of his devil energy. He will very soon be even deader than dead.”
“…” Yun Che’s eyelids cracked open as his expression grew more relaxed. His lips curved slightly into a faint smile before he spoke with great difficulty, “Jasmine… thank you, if not for you…”
“Hmph! If not for me, you would have died an even uglier death than him!” Jasmine said huffily. But this time, she did not scold Yun Che for forcing open the “Rumbling Heaven” gate. Because it was really the only option left to him, the only hope that he could grasp at… and in the end, fate once again stood at Yun Che’s side.
His wounds were very heavy and another practitioner would have died a hundred times over. Still, these injuries were insufficient to condemn him to death and could be recovered from in a fairly short period of time..
“Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, do you have any words to leave behind!?” Jasmine asked in a cold voice.
“Cough…” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign droned on in a voice filled with pain and despair, “Even the Evil God’s… seal… which lasted for a million years… was not able to kill this king… Yet this king… actually… died… at the hands of… a pathetic human…”
“Hmph! Even though the million year seal of the Evil God was not enough to kill you, in the end, you still die because of his power! It looks like no matter how hard you struggled, even though your struggles lasted for a million years, you were ultimately still unable to escape your fate of dying by the Evil God’s hand!”
Jasmine’s cold voice was somber. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s impending death caused her to breathe a large sigh of relief but her heart still held a gloominess that would not be easily dispelled… If they had not entered this place for the sake of finding the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, if Yun Che’s peculiar characteristic of courting disaster had not acted up again and convinced him to stay behind, they would not have known that this place was actually hiding a devil from ancient times.
She was unable to imagine the horrific outcome that would have occurred if the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had continued to hide in this place until the day he completely recovered the strength he had during his peak.
Yun Che’s all-or-nothing gamble to kill the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was for the sake of preserving his own life and obtaining the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. But in the end, he had still killed a devil! Perhaps no one in this universe would ever know about it but he had eradicated a giant calamity that would have engulfed countless of worlds in the future.
“Evil… God…” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign mumbled before he began to laugh hoarsely, “Ha… haha… ha… Do you… really think that the… Evil God… was truly… a god…”
“What? If the Evil God wasn’t a god, then could he have been a human or a devil instead!?” Jasmine said with a cold and mocking laugh, “Even though you are at death’s door, you’re still a devil who has lived for over a million years. But the only thing you want to say before you die is this pile of hilarious rubbish?”
“Heh… hehehe…” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign continued to chuckle but his laughter sounded rather bizarre. At this moment, his remaining arm trembled in the air as it slowly lifted up off the ground. The remaining devil claws began to stretch out wide as they started to emit a weak and faint black light.
“…!” Jasmine’s heart suddenly tightened with anxiety… Could it be that he still had some strength left!?
But she immediately relaxed once more. Even though Yun Che’s wounds were extremely heavy right now and he did not possess the ability to resist, he still had the protection of the Dragon God’s bloodline and the Great Way of the Buddha. Even if the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign could release one final beam of devil energy, it would still not be enough to kill Yun Che.
At most, it would merely inflict another wound on Yun Che’s broken body.
A jet-black orb that was around the size of a dragon’s eye appeared in the middle of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s hand which was wrapped in black light. His devil claws began to tremble as he spoke in a hoarse voice filled with resentment, “Pathetic human being… who has also inherited the power of the Evil God… this king… will sacrifice his devil orb… in order to consign you to eternal… damnation!!
All of the remaining power in his broken body was gathered up in that trembling arm as he threw something forward… The jet-black devil orb flew through the darkness before coming into contact with Yun Che and directly burying itself inside of his body.
This sudden and bizarre occurence sent a jolt of alarm through Jasmine’s heart and she spoke in a low voice, “What was that!? What did you throw at him?!”
“Ha… hahahaha… HAHAHAHAHA…” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign began to laugh wildly and his hoarse laughter was laced with pain, sorrow… and a warped and twisted joy.
“UWAAAAAAAHHHHH!!
At this moment, a pain-filled moan suddenly came from Yun Che’s mouth as his blood-covered body was suddenly covered in a weak and hazy black light… Furthermore, the aura that this light was releasing was shockingly a dark devil energy!
“!!” Jasmine could not care less about the risk as her soul body swiftly left the Sky Poison Pearl and entered Yun Che’s body once more. Her senses remained locked onto the jet-black orb that had entered entered Yun Che’s body. To her shock, she discovered that it had actually buried itself into Yun Che’s profound veins. It released a layer of black light as it sheathed his profound veins in a faint black glow.
Jasmine stretched out a hand, intending to use her power to eradicate it… But the moment her finger stretched out, her heart and soul were shaken fiercely and her face went white with shock.
The devil aura radiating from this dark orb was not strong; it could even be said to be incredibly weak. It would not even be able to swiftly kill the current Yun Che who was in an incredibly weak state. But the level of this devil aura was terrifyingly high!
This was far beyond the scope of her knowledge and experience!
Suddenly, Jasmine remembered that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had mumbled the two words “devil orb” right before he had thrown out this black orb…
Could it be that this was actually the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s devil origin orb!?
Was this the devil origin orb that the records stated sustained an ancient devil’s life origin, soul origin and origin of darkness!?
An item on the level of the devils!!
Jasmine’s tiny hand faintly trembled… No, she could not do it!! If this was truly a devil origin orb as recorded in the annals of history, even if its power was extremely weak, it was still not something that she could destroy! Moreover, it appeared to have actually forcefully merged with Yun Che’s Evil God’s Profound Veins… Even if she was able to remove it by force, it was extremely likely that she was cause severe damage to Yun Che’s profound veins in the process!
What was going on!? These were the Evil God’s Profound Veins that we are talking about, how could a devil origin orb merge with them so easily? Could it be because the level of the devil origin orb was so high while the level of Yun Che’s profound energy was too low, causing his profound veins to be unable to resist it?
Jasmine’s expression kept changing as she struggled with her thoughts. Finally, she stretched out her hand once more as a scarlet colored profound energy surged forth. She reduced its power again and again… She repeated this process more than ten times before finally pushing it into Yun Che’s profound veins. After that, she carefully wrapped her profound energy around that jet-black orb.
Immediately, the jet-black light was completely engulfed and covered by that bloody light and the originally weak devil energy completely vanished as well… It had been thoroughly sealed away by Jasmine’s powers.
Jasmine let her arm drop as she swiftly returned to the Sky Poison Pearl… Sealing away this thing that was most likely a devil origin orb was the only option she could think of at the moment. But in order to avoid harming Yun Che’s profound veins, she did not dare to use too much power. So that seal would not last for very long. From today onwards, she would have to renew that seal from time to time.
“Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign…” Yun Che could feel the intense changes that his body and profound veins were undergoing as he hoarsely gasped through gritted teeth, “What did… you do to me!?”
“This king… has given to you… a great boon… that you would never be able to obtain… even if you wished for it… ha… haha… kuh…” A spurt of black blood sprayed from the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s mouth, carrying away the greater part of his life with it.
“You…” Yun Che growled through tightly gritted teeth but he was still unable to stand up.
“Don’t worry, I have already sealed it away.” Jasmine said coldly, Even though she had told Yun Che “not to worry”, her heart was exceptionally heavy. Because now that a devil origin orb had merged with the Evil God’s Profound Veins, perhaps… it may one day cause a bizarre change that no one would be able to predict or anticipate.
Things that were on the level of the devils were things that not even Jasmine was able to control or anticipate.
“Heh…” The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s body no longer moved and his voice had grown so faint that it was as soft as the buzzing of an insect, “You… pathetic… and stupid… human beings… Do all of you really think that our devil race… has been destroyed completely…?”
“That which… was… banished… will surely… one… day…”
The final traces of black light within the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s eyes completely disappeared.
This was the king of the Eternal Night Devil Clan, a devil who had escaped the calamity that had afflicted the gods and the devils during ancient times, a devil who had escaped the million year seal of the Evil God. But in the end, he had died at the hands of a human being and he would forever lie in the eternal darkness of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.
Chapter 787 - Taking the Netherworld Udumbara by Force
“Is he… dead?” Yun Che asked with much difficulty.
“He’s dead!” His devil soul has dispersed and before long, the Golden Crow flames will completely burn his body to ashes as well.” Jasmine said as she sighed silently in her heart, “But don’t let anything distract you right now, you need to devote all your energy to healing your wounds! The injuries you sustained are really too serious this time around and even if it is you, if you let them linger on a while more, you might lose your life at any moment.”
Yun Che did not speak any further. Instead he focused on adjusting his current state and mindset until he could attain proper focus. After that, he swiftly cleared away any thoughts that would distract him before he focused on circulating the Great Way of the Buddha… He knew that Jasmine’s words were not the least bit exaggerated. Even when he was in the Primordial Profound Ark, he had never been so seriously injured to the point where he lost all sensation of pain.
This time, his internal and external injuries were incredibly serious and within the entire Profound Sky Continent, the only person who could sustain such injuries and still live was Yun Che alone. This coupled with the fact that he had nearly run out of profound energy meant that it would require a rather long period of time before he could make a full recovery.
Because of his heavy injuries, Yun Che’s ability to concentrate was also greatly affected. A full seven minutes passed before that dim golden pagoda gradually appeared over his head. After that, the energy of heaven and earth that surged into his body began to get denser and denser.
At the end of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, the broken corpse of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had finally been incinerated by the Golden Crow flames. The devil body, that was bereft of the power of the devil god, could not escape the fate of being burned to cinders… However, the clouds of black ash were dimly illuminated by streaks of bizarre black light.
Behind the body lay the wall at the very end of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. Most of the impact from the sword strike that Yun Che had launched at the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, after he opened the “Rumbling Heaven” gate, had been absorbed by this pitch-black wall. However, the attack that had enough power to destroy the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had not caused this wall to collapse. It had only left behind many long and narrow cracks along its surface.
Threads of abnormal black energy were quietly seeping from those cracks. It was just that there was no way anyone would be able to see it with their naked eyes in this absolute darkness.
“Heeheeheehee… Kekekehahahaha… Huhuhuhu… Wahahahaha…”
Now that the dust had finally settled, one could clearly hear the sinister wailing laughter that continued to echo within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. The Netherworld Udumbara Flower still gently swayed despite the absence of wind but only four petals remained and whether it was the ghostly wail or the gloomy purple light, both of them had grown far weaker than before.
——————————————
Blue Wind Nation. Snow Region of Extreme Ice
Dongfang Xiu had been going north all this while, traveling through day and night and barely even stopping to catch his breath. Given his cultivation, which was at the initial stages of the Emperor Profound Realm, he had barely made it from Blue Wind Imperial City to Frozen Cloud Asgard within twenty hours.
By the time he had reached Frozen Cloud Asgard and conveyed the message he was supposed to deliver, Dongfang Xiu had exhausted all his profound energy. He fell headfirst into the snow and he could barely force himself up after half a day of rest.
“Palace Chief Dongfang, do not worry. Asgard Master has the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul with him, even if the distance is one hundred and fifty thousand kilometers away, he will still be able to receive our sound transmissions.”
The news of Xiao Yun’s disappearance deeply shocked the disciples of Frozen Cloud Asgard. Yun Che had personally told them that Xiao Yun was his sworn brother and a few months ago, he had even brought Xiao Yun to Frozen Cloud Asgard to assist him in scaring off Sun Moon Divine Hall.
Murong Qianxue and the others did not have time to arrange for a place for Dongfang Xiu to rest. The six of them combined their powers and swiftly constructed the sound transmission profound formation that was unique to Frozen Cloud Asgard. Borrowing the power of the profound formation, they would definitely be able to send a sound transmission to Yun Che, who possessed the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul, as long as he was still on the Profound Sky Continent.
After they had constructed the sound transmission profound formation, Murong Qianxue entered the center of the profound formation and focused on sending a sound transmission to Yun Che. Immediately after that, her eyes blinked open as a look of shock and alarm spread across her face.
“Senior Sister, what happened?” Mu Lanyi asked in a worried voice.
“I can’t get through, we are unable to send out the sound transmission.” Murong Qianxue replied, shaking her head gravely as her crescent brows knitted together in confusion.
“How could it be?” Feng Hanyue asked anxiously, “Asgard Master has the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul, so how is it possible that he isn’t able to receive our sound transmission. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Unless… unless Asgard Master has expelled the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul from his body.”
“Ah!” Feng Hanxue cried in shock as her beautiful eyes immediately grew misty with emotion, “Could it be… could it be that Asgard Master doesn’t want us anymore…?”
“Stop spouting nonsense.” Jun Lianqie immediately exclaimed, “Asgard Master is a man who values relationships the most in this world! There is no way he would suddenly abandon our Frozen Cloud Asgard. If he truly expelled the the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul from his body, the six of us should be able to sense it. My guess is that because Supreme Ocean Palace is located in the ocean that is one thousand five hundred kilometers to the south of the southernmost part of the Profound Sky Continent, it might be located outside the boundaries of the Profound Sky Continent. So Asgard Master would not be able to receive our sound transmission. There is another possibility… That place is, in the end, still a Sacred Ground, so it should be covered by an a powerful protective barrier and that barrier might also block out sound transmissions.”
“Another possibility I can think of is that Asgard Master is currently within the ‘Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’ that he had mentioned many times before.” Chu Yueli continued after Jun Lianqie, “Asgard Master has told us this twice before, the main objective behind his trip to Supreme Ocean Palace is to enter the ‘Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’ to look for something. Furthermore, that ‘Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’ is the greatest forbidden ground in the entire Supreme Ocean Palace, so it is definitely covered by an extremely strong isolation barrier. Not being able to send a sound transmission to him is extremely normal in such circumstances.”
“In short, let’s not play wild guessing games with each other.” Murong Qianxue said as she strode out of the profound barrier. She turned to Dongfang Xiu before she continued, “Palace Chief Dongfang, please rest here for the time being, you can send a sound transmission to Empress Cang Yue to update her on the current situation. There is definitely a reason that we cannot send a sound transmission to Asgard Master but there is no need to get too anxious. After that, we will attempt to send a sound transmission every two hours and I believe that Asgard Master will reply us before too long.”
“If that is the case… then we will have to trouble you fairies regarding this.” Dongfang Xiu said in an extremely exhausted voice.
Murong Qianxue and the others did as they said they would. They would reconstruct that profound formation and attempt to send a sound transmission once every two hours. Each time they performed the task, they intentionally increased the amount of profound strength they used…
But the days passed and there was still no reply from Yun Che.
At this point, even the ladies of Frozen Cloud Asgard began to panic.
Even though none of them said it out loud, every single one of them had a bad feeling that… it was not only Xiao Yun that was in trouble right now. It seemed very likely that something had happened to Yun Che as well.
——————————————————
Within the dark and silent world, Yun Che, who had sat quietly for an unknown period of time, suddenly opened his eyes as he asked in a strained and urgent voice, “How long was I in a trance for!?”
“More than forty hours.” Jasmine coolly replied.
“What!?” Yun Che shouted in shock as he jumped to his feet. That sudden action immediately tore open all the wounds in his body, causing his face to twist in pain as he uttered a low moan.
Yun Che could completely recover from normal injuries in two days time, even if they were considered heavy injuries for a normal person but this time, things were different. Not only had he sustained grievous external and internal injuries, he had even damaged his foundation. So even though he had been quietly recovering from his injuries for more than forty hours, only half of his injuries had healed and he had also only recovered about fifty percent of his profound strength.
“Why? Are you afraid that you won’t make it in time for the Devil Sword Conference?” Jasmine said as she gave cold snort, “Hmph! You haven’t even completely recovered yet and you still have to think about how you’re going to break out of this place! So attending the Devil Sword Conference should be the last thing on your mind.”
“No! It’s not that!” Yun Che said as he swiftly turned around.
Those four points of gloomy purple light continued to slowly sway three hundred meters from where Yun Che was. The moment he looked over at them, he could hear that sinister, soul-piercing, ghostly wail ring out.
Besides the fact that it was missing petals, the Netherworld Udumbara Flower was exactly how Yun Che saw it initially. Even the four petals that remained still continued to shimmer with that purple light, it did not look like it had started to rot or decay in the least.
Even from three hundred meters away, the moment Yun Che laid his eyes on it, he could clearly feel its touch on his soul.
“This is great.” Yun Che said as he let out a long sigh of relief, “Master told me the Netherworld Udumbara Flower would only bloom for three days and once those three days were up, it would wilt instantly.”
“Even though it’s only been two days since it bloomed, it still lost five of its flower petals. So its strength would have greatly weakened. Given my knowledge of these rare plants and spirit medicines, I believe it will definitely wilt earlier than the recorded three days because of it! So we are truly fortunate that all four of the remaining petals are still in perfect condition!”
Yun Che could not help feeling antsy right now. In order to concentrate on recovering from his injuries, he had sealed all of his senses. He knew that the moment he slipped into a trance he would lose all sense of time, so he ensured that a part of his will remained to prevent him from being in a trance for too long a period of time. It was just that his wounds were really too serious, so his will had become extremely weak and the bit of will that he had held in anticipation of this event very swiftly dissipated as well… The moment he came to, he instantly thought of how long the Netherworld Udumbara Flower would stay in full bloom and he grew so anxious that cold sweat nearly drenched his entire body.
It was truly fortunate that all four of the remaining petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower had remained intact.
But at the same time, he was perfectly clear about one thing—If it was a complete and unharmed Netherworld Udumbara Flower, it would still be a full day away from wilting.
A Netherworld Udumbara Flower that had only four petals remaining would definitely remain in full bloom for a shorter period of time, it definitely would not last for three full days! If two days had already passed since it fully bloomed… then it was extremely likely that it would wilt any second now!
“You want forcefully retrieve that Netherworld Udumbara?” Jasmine said as her delicate brows slanted downwards. After that, she immediately barked out a rebuke, “Are you insane!? Have you so quickly forgotten about how terrifying the Netherworld Udumbara Flower is!? What’s more, right now you’re injured all over and you only have half your usual profound strength. So even thinking of getting within one hundred meters of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower will already be harder than scaling the heavens, much less actually plucking it! Forcing your way close to it will also likely result in it stealing your soul and you will become the living dead!”
Yun Che breathed a long sigh before he said in an extremely resolute voice, “I am well aware of how terrifying the Netherworld Udumbara Flower is! But do not forget the reason why I stayed behind in the first place! This even resulted in meeting one Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign who very nearly buried me in this place!”
“What Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign? What ancient devil? What universal calamity… I don’t really give a crap about any of those things! The only thing I stayed behind to do was to obtain this Netherworld Udumbara Flower! Furthermore, I have exhausted so much strength and braved so much danger that I very nearly threw my life away, all so that I could protect this Netherworld Udumbara Flower that only has four petals left! If we do not manage to retrieve it, how do you expect me to be satisfied!?”
Yun Che had already started to gnash his teeth as he finished his rant. Ever since he had entered the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, his encounters had far exceeded his expectations. Given his personality, having already reached this point, he would definitely not allow himself to leave empty-handed, regardless of the risks or how difficult the task was.
Jasmine replied in a very grave voice, “Hmph, I know that the thing you love to do the most is to gamble with your life. But you should still retain some self-awareness at the very least! Two days ago, you personally experienced the might of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower—and it was when you were still very far away from it! Right now, your wounds haven’t even healed, yet it seems like you’ve completely forgotten what it means to feel pain!”
“Jasmine, tell me this one thing.” Yun Che said in a very calm voice, “Is an incomplete Netherworld Udumbara with only four remaining petals enough to create a new body for you?”
“…No! Of course not!” After a short pause, Jasmine vehemently denied him, “An incomplete Netherworld Udumbara Flower and a complete one are worlds apart! If I want my body and soul to be perfectly united when this new body of mine is created, I definitely need a complete and perfect Netherworld Udumbara Flower! Even if it was missing just one flower petal, it would not be of any use, much less a Netherworld Udumbara Flower that is missing five! So even if you decide to gamble your life and you really succeed in obtaining it, it will all be for nothing!”
“Besides, you won’t even be able to live to tell the tale if you do try to attempt it!”
Jasmine’s words did not move Yun Che in the slightest. On the contrary, they caused Yun Che to focus even more intensely on the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, “You’re lying to me!”
“…Lying to you!?” Jasmine’s voice became cold, “So now, you don’t believe even my words?”
“No.” Yun Che lightly shook his head, “Jasmine, you are the person that I trust the most in this world. As long as it is something that you’ve said, no matter how unreasonable or outrageous those words may be, I will not doubt them in the least. Unless… it was the words that you just said.”
Jasmine, “You…”
“Jasmine…” Yun Che’s voice became exceptionally soft and gentle, “The year that we met, I was sixteen and you were thirteen. You helped me rebuild a set of profound veins, took me as your student and even used your foot to step on my head to force me to kowtow to you… After that, we have been together every day and night, every hour and every moment. We can even clearly feel each other’s existence with every breath that we take. And now, it has already been more than seven years since we met.”
“You… what are you trying to say?” Yun Che’s words caused Jasmine’s voice to turn funny.
“What I’m trying to say is that we have spent seven years completely tangled together. The time that I have spent with you is longer than the time that you have spent with your parents, longer than the time that you have spent with your precious big brother, longer than the time you have spent with any person in this world. So, I know you better than anyone else does—just like how you know me better than anyone else as well.”
Jasmine, “…”
“So right now, I could tell instantly whether you were lying or not. What’s more, you don’t even like to lie in the first place, so you’re really not used to it. Normally, if you want to hide something from me, you’ll simply seal your lips and refuse to speak a word more and you will also deliberately make it known to me that you don’t want to continue. Other than the time you ‘sealed your own profound strength’, you have never even tried to deceive or lie to me!”
“That is also why your claim that you had ‘sealed your own profound strength’ deceived me for such a long time. It was the only time that you had ever lied to me before this! Just now was the second time you tried to lie to me! But I am no longer the person I was five years ago, so I won’t fall for your trick this time. No matter what…”
“No matter what, you definitely want to forcefully obtain those four petals, right!?” Jasmine’s voice had undergone a faint change, it was as if some complex emotion had been layered into it. “Fine… I was indeed lying to you just now! But it wasn’t a complete lie! Even though a Netherworld Udumbara Flower with only four petals remaining would be able to merge my body and soul together, it would not be able to perfectly merge the two! So in the end, it would only stay in effect for twenty to thirty years!”
“…What will happen after twenty to thirty years have passed?” Yun Che asked in a stunned voice.
“It is highly likely that my body and soul would reject each other and I would have no choice but to resume my current form! Hmph, I won’t be so stupid as to endure the same kind of pain as Fen Juechen.”
“So that’s how it is!” Yun Che said as he nodded heavily, “This also means that it will grant you at least twenty years of independence and absolute freedom. After that, the worst case scenario is that you would return to your current state.”
“Then we definitely need to obtain this four petal Netherworld Udumbara Flower!!”
“You!!” Jasmine snapped as her temper boiled over. She gritted her teeth within the Sky Poison Pearl as she said angrily, “You’re really someone who won’t weep until you are one foot in the coffin! Since that is the case, then go ahead and try! Go harvest that four petal Netherworld Udumbara Flower! Let me see where you’re getting that confidence from!”
Chapter 788 - My Jasmine (1)
Yun Che casually inspected his injuries before focusing his mind and striding towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower.
Those four petals released an extremely bizarre and fantastical purple light. Once Yun Che was within one hundred and fifty meters of it, he could clearly feel his soul being pulled in by formless hands. Yun Che ground to a stop, sucking in a deep breath of air before he spoke in a calm voice, “Jasmine, don’t you worry. I’m not silly as to die because I overestimated my own strength. Besides, my life is still linked with yours. The reason my soul was nearly stolen by the Netherworld Udumbara Flower the first time around was because I had not experienced its true terror yet, so I didn’t prepare myself well enough.”
“However, right now, I roughly know the method it uses to steal one’s soul. This coupled with the fact that it only has four petals left makes the prospect of facing it much less terrifying than before. If I pour all my effort and strength into this attempt, it isn’t guaranteed that I will fail. I also have the Sky Poison Pearl with me, so as long as I can get near it, harvesting it won’t be a problem at all.”
“If the final result ends in complete and utter failure and I see no hope of succeeding, then I will give up.”
“Hmph!” Jasmine sniffed angrily as she replied, “Anyways, I can’t stop you no matter what I say, so I can’t be bothered with you anymore! When you are being tormented to the point where you start begging for death later, don’t blame me for not giving you ample warning!”
“I get it.”
Both of Yun Che’s hands slowly tightened into fists as his brows knit together tightly… In this lifetime, he was convinced that he would never be able to forget just how terrifying the soul stealing ability of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower was. Now that he thought about it again, his entire soul started to shudder uncontrollably as a intense dread was birthed in his heart.
If the thing placed in front of him was something else, even if it was a legendary treasure, a peerless profound artifact or even a mountain of Divine Crystals, he would turn around without a hint of hesitation and leave without even taking another look… because he was definitely not willing to ever experience the pain of his soul being taken from him again.
But what was in front of him was the Netherworld Udumbara Flower… The only Netherworld Udumbara Flower in this world.
“I will definitely succeed!”
“Hah!!”
Yun Che murmured before expelling an explosive shout. His entire body started burning with flames as he rose into the air, rushing with full force towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower.
The first time he had approached the Netherworld Udumbara Flower and was affected by its soul stealing ability, all of the power in his body instantly dissipated… So this time, he wanted to see if he could use extreme speed to reach the Netherworld Udumbara Flower in an instant.
Ding…
The hellish purple radiance before him expanded and the world suddenly fell completely silent. After that, innumerable icy needles crazily pierced his soul while countless dark hands emerged from the depths of the abyss to tear apart every corner of his soul…
Bang!!
Yun Che was thrown to the ground as he fell from the sky in a heap. All the flames on his body had been completely extinguished. His soul was being twisted and rent and the enormous pain that accompanied it caused his internal organs, limbs and the rest of his body to spasm uncontrollably. Every single hair and cell of his body was twisting and shivering in pain.
He gritted his teeth with all his might, forcefully keeping his cries of pain inside. Under that immense pain, his vision had become blurry but he could still see that bizarrely beautiful purple light clearly. It was roughly fifty meters distant from him.
It was also this purple light which allowed him to doggedly keep his nearly fractured psyche in one piece. He forced himself to his feet and tried to stagger towards the purple light. But right after he had taken a single step in that direction…
It was just one single step closer to the flower… yet in an instant, the thousand needles that had been stabbing at his soul turned into ten thousand blades…
When he had spent half his life delivering the killing blow to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, leaving his body in tatters, he had not even given voice to a single whimper of pain. But right now, Yun Che was letting out a blood-curdling scream. Just drawing one step closer was like walking through hell and finding another hell inside hell itself. He could feel both his body and soul being rent into tiny bits and pieces. This pain far exceeded any pain that Yun Che had ever known before, it even exceeded Yun Che’s very understanding of pain itself!
Furthermore, this intense pain also gave birth to a frantically blooming terror!
Fear and dread instantly swallowed up all of Yun Che’s remaining will and bravery. His contorted body reacted by itself as it tumbled backwards.
The sensation of his soul being sliced apart and the mind-warping pain dramatically lessened with every inch he retreated. Once his mind had cleared, he naturally regained control over his power and body. Yun Che continued to stagger backwards, stumbling on the ground as he went. He finally stopped when he reached a distance where he could endure the pain. Both of his knees sank to the ground as he used his arms to prop himself up. He gasped heavily for breath and sweat poured down his forehead in torrents. In the blink of an eye, the ground beneath his head had become completely drenched.
“Haah… Haah… Haah…”
His body continued to spasm uncontrollably for more than ten breaths as he took in great gulps of air. At this point, Yun Che felt as if he had endured the cruellest torture in the entire world… No! This pain was far more dreadful than any torture he could ever imagine.
He turned his head, raising his pasty-white face to look towards the position that he had reached previously. That spot was only about forty five meters away from the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. He could sense that that distance was the limit of what he could endure. If he tried to move forward, even if it was a single tiny step… he would be unable to endure the pain from that point on.
He was also unable to imagine what kind of terrible hell awaited him if he continued to take yet another step forward. He could also scarcely imagine what kind of horrific world awaited him when he was within a single step of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower.
Forty five meters… To him, that normally would be a pitifully short distance.
But in this place, it seemed even farther and more despair-inducing than a gap that spanned millions of kilometers.
One step was a step into an abyss…. One step was clearing a natural chasm!
“Are you… alright?” Jasmine asked in a voice laced with worry. But the moment she noticed the worry in her voice, she immediately turned frosty, “Hmph! This is the result of you overestimating your own strength! I will say this once more! The Netherworld Udumbara Flower isn’t something a person from your plane can get close to! As for that soul-stealing pain, you have now experienced it a second time! To be honest, the fact that you haven’t collapsed is commendable in and of itself! Because this kind of pain, even if it is I… even if it is a god from the legends, it would still be very hard to bear! Much less someone like you!”
By the time Jasmine had finished speaking, Yun Che had gotten to his feet once more. After that he turned around and faced the Netherworld Udumbara Flower yet again. But this time, the unwavering determination in his eyes had long since disappeared and a thick fear had replaced it instead.
In the past few years, Yun Che had not feared anything—whether it was unbearable might, the approach of death, or a natural force that he could not resist…
This was the first time he had ever experienced fear due to “pain.”
Crack!
He squeezed his left hand so hard that he had cracked the bones on two of his fingers… but his pale face did not even flinch. Because it was not even an ant bite when compared to the pain he had experienced when his soul was being stolen.
His feet started moving as he began to walk towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower yet again.
“What are you doing?” His actions shocked Jasmine. She knew very clearly what kind of pain Yun Che had just endured and she had also felt the dread that it had brought to him. So she had thought that Yun Che would never even try to approach the Netherworld Udumbara Flower ever again… and perhaps, he might not even dare to glance at it anymore but he was actually… trying to approach it yet again!
“I still… haven’t… failed yet!!” Yun Che said huskily. But the words that he had spat still quivered due to his remaining fear.
“You… Have you really not given up!? Will you truly only weep once you’ve seen your own grave!?” Jasmine shouted angrily.
“This Netherworld Udumbara Flower… it’s right in front of me! It’s only a short sixty meters away right now! If I lost all heart to continue due to this small obstacle, then where… will I find the face to see you next time!?”
“Me!?” Jasmine yelled in surprise, “…What small obstacle!? How in this world is that a small obstacle to you!? The pain your body is feeling will seep into your soul and the pain of the soul is not something that mere physical pain can compare to.” Jasmine had felt true soul searing pain once in her life before. It was when she inherited the profound strength legacy of the Heaven Slaughter Star God. So she had a very clear understanding about this kind of pain! Even someone as powerful as her would tremble in fear every time she remembered that experience. And to this day, she still would not have to courage to go through that experience a second time!
But for the sake of an incomplete Netherworld Udumbara Flower, Yun Che was willing to face that pain for a third time!!
Yun Che did not wait for Jasmine’s response. With a loud roar, he rushed towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower again while Jasmine was still stunned.
Forty five meters…
This distance proved to be the bottleneck yet again. Once more, Yun Che felt all of the strength in his body dissipating as he fell to the ground in pain. He forcefully opened his eyes so wide that they seemed like they would explode and he bit down so hard that his teeth nearly broke as he bounded a huge step forward.
“UWAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!”
A soul-rending cry of pain resounded through every corner of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. It was so shrill and sharp that even the pebbles on the ground started to tremble. This instant of soul searing pain was something that Yun Che could not even describe with words and the terrifying notion of committing suicide to escape this pain surfaced in his head.
The only thing that filled his body and remaining will was the instinct to “run away”… to flee at all costs! As his shrill cries continued to rend the air, Yun Che’s body was rolling and tumbling backwards… By the time he had recovered some semblance of clarity, he had already tumbled sixty meters away.
Yun Che’s face had gone even paler than before and his entire body was twitching and trembling like an insect that was going through its death spasms. Streams of cold sweat rolled down his body. He tightly gritted his teeth… This time, it took an entire thirty breaths before his body finally stopped trembling.
“That’s enough, don’t try that again. How many time do I have to tell you, it’s impossible for you to succeed! You’re only suffering for nothing!” This time, Jasmine did not scold him and one could hear a faint trembling in her voice. At first, she was completely convinced that no matter how strong a person’s will was, the moment that person experienced the pain of one’s soul being stolen, it would leave an eternal dark memory and that person would not even have the courage to think about the experience. But Yun Che… had thrown himself into the fray time and time again.
His desperate actions were so extreme that it was akin to forcefully jumping into a deep abyss, which even the gods would fear, repeatedly. It was not even to fulfill his own selfish desires… it was all for her!!
When Yun Che had endured those spatial storms within the Primordial Profound Ark, what he had experienced was the most extreme physical pain. Jasmine admired his ability to endure all of it, but she was not too surprised by the end result. But comparing physical pain to pain of the soul… it was on an entirely different level!!
Forcefully flensing the soul from the body… it was a process that was millions of times more painful than removing every single bone and blood vessel from one’s body!
Chapter 789 - My Jasmine (2)
Yun Che’s hands pushed himself off the ground as he began to slowly stand up. His pupils were contracted but when he stood up, he was still looking at the four petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower that were pulsing with hellish purple light.
“I want to get closer to it…” He muttered under his breath, his voice hoarse from the screaming, “But why do I always involuntarily… use my remaining strength to run away… Moreover, I’m actually afraid right now…”
“Could it be… that my so-called determination was this… weak!?”
Yun Che’s voice sounded fuzzy and indistinct. It was as if the Netherworld Udumbara Flower’s soul stealing ability was making him delirious. Jasmine immediately replied, “This has nothing to do with the strength of your will! In this world, there isn’t anyone who can endure the pain of their soul being rent from their bodies. There is also no one who isn’t afraid of this pain either!”
“No, it has something to do with it!” Yun Che had finally managed to stand up completely. He looked at the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, his arms trembling. Not only did his eyes contain a fear that could not be dispelled, there was also a growing violence being kindled there. After that he started moving once more and strode towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, “For the sake of reconstituting your body… That was the request that you made of me the very first day we met. Up to now, it has also been the only request that you have ever made!”
“Jasmine, meeting you allowed a cripple like me to gain a new life and I was also able to regain my dignity as well… Because of you, I can protect my grandfather and my little aunt from all harm and mistreatment… Because of you, I found out about my past and I was able to find my real parents… All of the power, status, dignity and fame that I possess today is due to you. If not for that chance meeting with you, I might have died a dog’s death by now… Even if I was still alive, I would possibly only be a wandering ghost that hovered on the edge of despair…”
“But in the end, I could not even help you realize… this sole wish of yours.”
Jasmine, “You…”
“Now, in front of my very eyes, I see what might be your last sliver of hope. So, no matter what… No matter what…!!”
“You… need to stop trying, even if it is you…”
“UWAAHHH!!”
Jasmine’s words had just left her mouth when they were completely engulfed by Yun Che’s roar. He rushed towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower for the fourth time as flames and killing intent covered his body… His strongest aura was his killing aura! So he was using his most extreme killing aura to suppress the fear that he felt towards the pain caused by his soul being rent apart.
In the blink of an eye, Yun Che had once again entered that forty five meter radius. This spot seemed to be the border of a devil’s forbidden zone—No one would be allowed to take even one step inside!
Yun Che was once again assaulted by the indescribable pain of his soul being rent apart. His entire body was contorting and spasming but this time, he forced himself to stay upright. He gritted his teeth tightly as he took his first step into the devil’s forbidden zone…
“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!”
Yun Che’s shout was laced with both pain and determination. He fiercely guarded his soul and his will as he continued forward… one step… two steps… three steps…
Thud!!
By some kind of miracle, he kept charging forward while roaring in rage and wailing in pain. By the end, he had covered a full three meters and now he was within forty two meters of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. He finally sank heavily to his knees and his face was twisted with such extreme pain that his features were all scrunched together. His ten fingers fiercely scrabbled against the ground as they curled and contorted into a shape that resembled withered animal claws…
Pain and terror filled his soul as he began to wish for death rather than survival. The all-consuming desire to run away, at all costs, engulfed his remaining will. His body began to jerk spasmodically as he desperately crawled and rolled away from the source of pain…
The pain started to lessen as his shredded soul finally became tranquil. Yun Che’s mental clarity returned to him as he lay on the ground and looked in the direction of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower… That purple light was once again more than sixty meters away.
“He… hehe… Hahaha… HAHAHAHAHA…” Yun Che’s fists fiercely smashed into the ground as he started laughing in a voice filled with pain and despondency, “To think that I actually ran away once again… To think that I am actually… this useless…”
“Yun Che!! How much longer do you want this foolishness to continue!?” Jasmine yelled at him in a furious voice, “If you’re thinking that the reason that you listed just now is a good reason for your desperate actions, then you can jolly well stop! I don’t need you to repay me for my actions! Everything that I have done is entirely for my own sake! I don’t need you to gamble your life just to get a mere Netherworld Udumbara Flower! Let’s not even talk about the fact that it’s impossible for you to succeed… Even if you do manage to obtain it, I won’t feel the least bit grateful. Rather, I’d only feel that your stupidity knows no bounds!!”
“Repay… your kindness?”
Yun Che used both arms to hoist himself off the ground. His body wobbled and his voice was weak and lacking energy, “How could it just be… to repay your kindness… Jasmine, to me… How could you simply… be a benefactor to me?”
Jasmine, “…”
He turned towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower and spoke in a low voice, “In my life, I, Yun Che, have braved many storms and seas. I have experienced countless life and death struggles and innumerable calamities. Even an ancient devil that came from the Ancient Era one million years ago died under my blade!!”
“So how can I… be so miserably defeated by a mere Netherworld Udumbara Flower!!”
Jasmine shouted in shock, “Are you telling me that you’re about to try again!? Have you experienced so much pain that you’ve lost all of your grip on reality!?”
“No! On the contrary, I feel more clear-headed than ever right now!” Yun Che said with a low shout, “I am not even scared of a devil! I am not even scared of death! So how can a mere flower scare me so badly that I scamper off with my tail in between my legs time and time again!!”
ROOOOOAAAR!!!!
A majestic dragon roar shook the entire place as a pair of azure eyes suddenly blinked open in this pitch-black world. A boundless power engulfed this tiny space as it weighed down on everything.
Dragon Soul Domain!!
Jasmine, “…!!”
The moment he unleashed the Dragon Soul Domain, all of the fear that remained in Yun Che’s heart and eyes completely vanished. He looked at the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, a calm and resolute smile playing across his face, “This time, I will no longer allow myself to be afraid or run away… Because I no longer have a way out!!”
After he unleashed the Dragon Soul Domain, all of his soul energy would be exhausted in an extremely short period of time. So if he retreated again, it would take a very long time before he could recover all of his soul energy… By that time, the Netherworld Udumbara Flower would have already withered away.
So he really did not have a way out after this anymore!
“You can’t!” Jasmine shouted in her loudest voice, “Even if you use the Dragon Soul, you still won’t be able to get anywhere near the Netherworld Udumbara Flower! Moreover, the Dragon Soul Domain will quickly deplete your spirit energy. After that, your soul energy will be extremely weak and it will result in your soul being swiftly devoured by the Netherworld Udumbara Flower! You won’t even have a chance to resist or retreat!!”
“I can do it…” Yun Che gasped through gritted teeth, “Because this is for you… that is why I will definitely succeed!”
“…” Jasmine’s heart was heavily smashed by some unfamiliar object.
ROOOOOAAAR!!!!
As the dragon cry resounded in the air, Yun Che gathered all the profound energy in his body as he rushed towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower yet again… But this would be his final attempt!
Because he would no longer have a chance to try again!!
Yun Che’s soul power grew explosively under the influence of the Dragon Soul Domain. As he drew nearer, the Netherworld Udumbara Flower began to sway quicker and the ghastly wail it released started to sound rather abnormal.
Yun Che gobbled up the distance as he fiercely pressed towards the forty five meter mark. His entire body tensed up but the soul-rending power that assaulted him was casually batted aside by the Dragon God’s soul power. The pain and his loss of willpower was not even half as much as it was before.
His power and his will were still being swiftly worn away by the Netherworld Udumbara Flower’s soul-stealing power. Yun Che began to slow down as his steps became wobbly but he gritted his teeth fiercely as he desperately surged forward… While the Dragon Soul Domain was suppressing that dark and hellish power, he managed to bull his way to within thirty meters of the flower!!
Yun Che was suddenly assaulted by pain which far surpassed the threshold of what he could endure. It was so intense that every hair on his body was shaking and his knees hit the ground violently with a thud. However, his eyes still retained a startling and dreadful clarity…
To be able to retain some semblance of clarity in this sort of situation could only be described as “dreadful”.
“Even if… my soul… is completely ripped apart… I will no longer retreat, not even half a step!”
“UWAHHH!!”
His trembling, powerless arms swayed as he began to crawl towards that hellish purple light. The pain of his soul being torn apart caused him to begin to feel as if his arms and even his entire body did not exist. It was only by squeezing out the last bits of his willpower and determination that he was able to push his body forward… As he advanced, the terrifying feeling of his soul being torn apart and flayed from his body continuously increased.
But he… definitely could not retreat!
Within the Sky Poison Pearl, Hong’er was in deep slumber. The vicious battle with Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign seemed to have left her exhausted. So during the past two days when Yun Che had been recovering from his injuries, she had been sound asleep. Jasmine stood by Hong’er’s bedside, a stupefied look spreading across her face as she witnessed Yun Che’s desperate struggle in stunned amazement. He was slowly crawling within that hellish purple light and he had inched from the thirty meter mark to the twenty seven meter mark. Enormous pain caused his face to twist and warp in such a sinister way that it resembled an evil spirit.
Furthermore, the Dragon God image behind his back was slowly but surely fading away as well…
Suddenly, the Dragon God image flashed and then started fading away at a startlingly fast pace. It seemed like it was about to collapse at any time.
Jasmine’s delicate brows jumped as she cried out involuntarily, “Yun Che, don’t carry on any longer, hurry up and get back! Your Dragon Soul Domain has almost reached its limit… You can still escape before it completely dissipates! If not, this is where you will meet your end!!”
“…” Yun Che did not reply and he did not retreat. His arms trembled as he clawed forward, leaving behind bloody fingerprints in his wake. He had gritted his teeth so hard that blood was flowing from his gums and streamed from the corners of his mouth. But he barely noticed all of this as he slowly crawled through this purgatory that a normal person would never be able to imagine. He inched forward bit by bit, crawling even deeper into hell.
“…Yun Che! Listen up!” Jasmine’s spirit body was also shaking, and she was shaking nearly as fiercely as Yun Che was, “If I am unable to gain a new body, then I can only exist by continuing to stay attached to your lifeline! If you live, I live! If you die, I die! Now I have already escaped the clutches of that devilish poison, so I can use my powers with no hesitation! As long as I don’t die, I will have to ensure that you continue to live as well! Given my power, even if all the people on the Profound Sky Continent ganged up together, they still wouldn’t be able to kill you! You can also rely on my power to do anything that you are unable to do!!”
“If I can never reconstitute my body, then I will have no choice but to rely on you to continue existing! No choice but to continue protecting you forever!”
“But if I do get a new body, then you will be throwing away an extremely strong protective charm! Right… once I get a new body, I will definitely kill you right away! Because you not only know too much of my secrets and you are also the type of person that I detest the most!”
“You are literally paying an enormous price to do the most stupid thing conceivable in this world! There is still time for you to stop and change your mind… Get away from here immediately!!”
Jasmine yelled in her loudest voice, clenching her tiny hands so hard that the joints of her fingers had long since turned white.
Clap!
Yun Che’s hand grabbed onto a black rock that protruded slightly from the ground as he pulled himself forward an inch. His mouth was trembling as he spoke in a hoarse and weak voice, “You… will… not…”
Chapter 790 - My Jasmine (3)
The Dragon God image had grown incredibly faint and it looked like it would disappear at any moment. At this instant, Yun Che’s pupils flashed with firelight as a phoenix cry rang out in the room and the image of a Phoenix coalesced behind his back…
After releasing the Dragon Soul, he released the Phoenix Soul without holding anything back. The weak Dragon Soul and the recently ignited Phoenix Soul combined forces to slightly weaken the soul stealing power of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. Yun Che gave a low roar as he rushed forward. During that burst of speed, he covered another three meters.
Now he was only twenty one meters away from the Netherworld Udumbara Flower!
“Wha… what proof do you have that I won’t!” Jasmine’s strained voice showed that she was losing control over her emotions. She deeply inhaled as she forced herself to remain calm and composed, “Okay… fine… Could it be that you will only be content after you have dragged me down to the grave with you once you have been tortured to death by the pain of having your soul stolen!? If you don’t hurry up and get back to a safe spot, you will be dooming me as well! I endured so many years of that devilish poison and it wasn’t easy for me to get to this point! So if your stupidity today ends up causing my death… I will never ever forgive you, not even in our next lives!!”
While the flames burned, the cry of the Phoenix Soul began to grow weaker and weaker. Yun Che was now only eighteen meters away from the Netherworld Udumbara Flower… Even Jasmine was unable to believe that Yun Che could withstand this horrifying soul stealing ability and the pain of having his soul rent apart and come this close to the Netherworld Udumbara Flower. His miserable cries of pain had grown so hoarse that they barely even sounded human anymore. His actions were so weak that he resembled an old man who was at death’s door. But his arms and his body continued to slowly crawl forward inch by inch…
If the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign still lived, perhaps even he would not be able to believe the scene he was witnessing.
“Jasmine…” Yun Che murmured in a voice so low that even he could not hear himself clearly, “Believe me… I can definitely… make it…”
“You are even… younger than me… Yet from such a young age… you could only… rely on one person… to live… I know just how… painful… and sad… that kind of life is…”
“Even though you are… haughty… stubborn… foul-tempered… and you love to scold me… you have never allowed… me to pity you… but… I know that… you desire freedom… more than anything else…”
“If… we miss this chance… I don’t know… how many more years we will have to… I… will… definitely… not…”
“AAHHHH!!!”
Yet another resonant cry pierced the air, the image of the third Divine Spirit appeared behind Yun Che. The Golden Crow Soul was also ignited by Yun Che, he was releasing all of his soul energy without any reservation.
This explosion of soul energy allowed the now clear-headed Yun Che to stride forward yet again.
By the time he fell to the ground again, he was only fifteen meters away from the Netherworld Udumbara Flower.
But these short fifteen meters were the widest and most terrifying divide in the entire Profound Sky Continent.
At this point, anyone who had not personally experienced the same thing would never be able to imagine what Yun Che was currently enduring.
Dragon God Soul, Phoenix Soul, Golden Crow Soul… All three Divine Spirit images were radiating light. It was just that the images of the Phoenix and the Dragon God had already grown extremely thin and faint but Yun Che was still desperately holding on to the last threads of soul energy. If he did not have the protection of these three Great Divine Spirit Souls, his soul would have long ago been shattered into countless fragments.
Fifteen meters away. This was a distance that Jasmine could scarcely believe. But she knew how hopeless an affair it would be to try to cross these last fifteen meters. Even if Yun Che was at his peak, he would not be able to cross this last stretch… Besides, the Divine Spirit soul power he was relying on had grown extremely weak.
But Yun Che was still using his arms to pull his entire body along as he crawled towards the Netherworld Udumbara Flower at a snail’s pace… Jasmine was closely observing Yun Che but she was unable to find out what kind of power the current Yun Che was using to continue dragging himself forward.
“Just what… will make you give up!?” Jasmine’s voice was shaking so hard that it was scarcely recognizable. She turned her head away and closed her eyes… Given her nature, she no longer dared to look at Yun Che’s current appearance, “For the last… I’ll say this for the last time! Immediately… get away from here!! This is an order! I am your master… and you well know that one must always obey their master. Are you telling me that you’re even going to rebel against your master’s orders!?”
Yun Che’s arm was spasming but his body moved forward yet again. His entire body was wriggling and jerking spasmodically, as if he was a dying bug wriggling the last of its life away… Behind him, the images of the Dragon God and the Phoenix had completely disappeared and only the weak light of the Golden Crow image was still flashing.
“A master’s order cannot be disobeyed…” Yun Che’s eyes still remained open as his blood-stained mouth whispered those word, “But in my heart… you are not merely… my master…”
“You are also… my… Jasmine!!!!”
“…” Jasmine’s body trembled. Her heart had grown completely muddled, as if something had exploded in the very depths of her soul.
“UUWAAAAAAH!”
The Golden Crow image had also completely disappeared. The moment all three Divine Spirit images completely disappeared, Yun Che’s body was suddenly lit up by flames and under the firelight, one could also see a scarlet profound light…
The three drops of Phoenix origin blood and the nine drops of Golden Crow origin blood were ignited by him in that one instant.
This was the second time he had ignited his Divine origin blood ever since the duel that he had with Xia Qingyue all those years ago! The difference was that he had drawn the origin blood out of his body to ignite it the first time around, but this time, he had ignited it while the origin blood was still in his body.
At the same time, he also resolutely opened the fourth gate of the Evil God that caused him to lose half his life in those short two breaths of time.
“Rumbling… Heaven!!”
Like an insect on the brink of death, Yun Che fiercely rushed forward as cauterizing flames burned all around him. In an instant, he covered nearly fifteen meters of ground. With his remaining will, he hazily ascertained the direction in which the purple light lay. He desperately thrust out his left hand, which flashed with a green light as he came into contact with the purple light, which resembled devil eyes…
Bang!
Yun Che heavily fell to the ground and stopped moving completely. All of the wounds that his body had just recovered from had all ruptured open, whether it was his internal or external wounds. Furthermore, those injuries were even worse than they had been; they were so serious that Yun Che had instantly lost consciousness as he lay there unmoving.
The world within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest had finally descended into its dark quiet solitude once more… Furthermore, it was an absolute darkness, not a single thread of light continued to glow in this place.
Jasmine dumbly stood in place. She neither moved nor spoke for a very long time… The only things one could see were two streams of wetness trailing down her snow white face. They did not stop, the tears only streaming down faster and faster in the silence.
——————————
——————————
“Uuu… This isn’t real… Big Brother… I don’t want you to die… Uuuuu… I don’t want this… don’t want this!!”
“Jasmine… don’t cry… Even if Big Brother isn’t around, you must still… continue to be strong… You still need… to protect Caizhi… After all, she… Cough, cough cough.”
“I… I understand. I will protect Caizhi, I will protect her the same way Big Brother protected me. I must be strong… I must also… must also kill that person… kill all of the people of that astral plane to take revenge for my brother…”
“No… please don’t… don’t visit your vengeance on her…”
“Why… It’s obvious that she was the one who harmed Big Brother… Why is Big Brother still trying to protect her!?”
“Jasmine… you’re still young. Once you’ve grown up, you will learn to truly love someone. It is then that you will understand… Big Brother may have died because of her… but I have no regrets… I just have too many worries that I am leaving behind…”
“Jasmine… promise Big Brother this one last thing… In the future… once you’ve grown up… if there comes a day where you meet a man who is strong, treats you as good as Big Brother has and is willing to give up anything for you… even his life. Then get him to… bring you… far away from this place… forever… The further the better… so no one will be able to find you…”
“No… I don’t want… In this world, there will never be someone who will treat me as well as Big Brother… I only want Big Brother… Uu… uwaaaaaaaaaah…”
“Jasmine… you will definitely be able to meet that person… Because my sister… is the kindest… and most beautiful girl… in the world…”
——————————
——————————
“…” Jasmine stretched out her small hand and touched the two warm streams of tears that ran down her snowy face. Perhaps it was because she had not cried since the death of her brother and it had been far too long since then. As a result, too many tears had accumulated, and no matter how she tried to control them, those flowing tears simply refused to stop.
Big Brother, do you know? I’ve really met someone who fits that description.
But, how can I…
“Eh? Big Sis Jasmine, you’re crying!”
While Jasmine was in a daze, she had not realized that Hong’er had woken up. She stood by Jasmine’s side, looking curiously at Jasmine’s tear-stained face while racking her brains. After she had confirmed what she was thinking several times over, she suddenly started jumping in excitement as she shouted, “Whoaa! I had always thought that only I knew how to cry, but it looks like Big Sis Jasmine also knows how to cry as well… This is great!!”
Hong’er always got excited over the weirdest things. This time, Jasmine didn’t encourage her like she normally did to make her happy. Instead, she stretched out a hand and lightly grasped Hong’er’s white and delicate hand.
“Hong’er, if there comes a day where I won’t be here anymore and I won’t return for a very long time… you need to obediently listen to your master’s words, okay?”
“Of course that’s okay!” Hong’er said as she nodded her head with no hesitation. She smiled merrily as she replied, “I have always been very obedient to Master… Ah?” Hong’er had finally noticed the main point and she asked Jasmine curiously, “Big Sis Jasmine, you won’t be here? Are you going somewhere else to play?”
“I don’t know, perhaps I have been thinking too much all of the sudden.” Jasmine said as she gave a faint smile, “Anyways, you need to obediently obey your master at all times, okay. Because besides me, you master is the person who treats Hong’er the best in this world, right?”
“Mn!” Hong’er obediently nodded her head. But after that, she slanted her head and whispered to herself, “It’s so strange. Big Sis Jasmine seems really weird today… Aiyah, I don’t care anymore! Big Sis Jasmine, now that I’ve finished sleeping, my tummy is rumbling again! I want to eat lots and lots of delicious stuff!”
“…………”
There was no sound and no light. Within the boundless darkness, Yun Che lay unmoving, whether he still lived or if he had died was a complete mystery.
Chapter 791 - Hazy Dreamscape
Where is… this place?
Yun Che could only see a completely white world in front of him.
“Husband…” Cang Yue’s voice drifted into his ear. She appeared before him dressed in her phoenix robe, that soft and gentle expression that she would only show in front of him displayed on her beautiful and delicate face, “You need to take care of yourself, I will always be waiting for you in the Imperial City… I’ll wait till the day you’ve fulfilled all of your wishes, then I’ll accompany you wherever you wish to go. I don’t need anything else but you.”
“Senior Sister Xuerou… Yue’er…” Yun Che did his best to stretch out his hand and grasp her soft shoulder, “Don’t worry, I won’t let you wait for too long. In this life, I’ve done too much wrong to you already. But I will definitely… never forsake you.”
But his hand only passed through an illusion.
“Little Che, you’re hurt again?”
This time, it was Xiao Lingxi’s sweet and gentle voice that rang in his ears, “It wasn’t easy for us to reunite, so nothing must ever happen to you. If not, I really won’t know how I’m supposed to continue living anymore. Little Che… uuu…”
“Little Aunt, don’t worry, I’ll be fine… After I leave this place, I’ll immediately head back to Floating Cloud City.”
“What about me then? When will you come back and see me again?”
An anger-filled voice rang out behind him. He turned around and saw the Little Demon Empress. She may be small and delicate but the frightening power that she released from her body was right next to him, “You said you’d return shortly, but now you’ve been gone half a year, and you haven’t even sent me a single message! Are you tired of living!? Does your heart even remember me anymore!?”
Yun Che replied in an anxious and panicked voice, “Caiyi, how would it be possible for me to forget you. Since I left the Illusory Demon Realm, I have thought of you every single day. It is just that too many unexpected things happened while I was over here. Once I have settled everything on this side, I will return as fast as I can and I will bring many people with me as well.”
The figures of Yun Qinghong and Mu Yurou appeared behind the Little Demon Empress. A faint smile played across Yun Qinghong’s calm face, it was as if he was always so relaxed and composed, “Che’er, you are a true man, the one thing that your father is most proud of in his life. You are also the pride of the Yun Family. Go forth my child. Don’t be too weighed down by worries and restrictions, go do whatever you deem is right. Go do whatever you have to do!”
“No, don’t listen to your father’s words!” Mu Yurou said as tears danced in her eyes, “Che’er, hurry up and come home. Mother has been yearning for your presence day and night… Mother isn’t asking you to accomplish great things. I don’t care if you’re ordinary your entire life. I only want you to always be safe and sound, never having to suffer or worry…”
“Father, Mother…” Yun Che softly called out to them as he stretched out his height. But he could not reach them in time as their figures had already vanished into thin air.
“Yun Che, I left for somewhere far far away, and perhaps, we will never meet again in this life. You need to take care of yourself.”
That voice was soft and gentle, but it sounded nearly emotionless. Yun Che’s head jerked up as he saw a blue-clothed Xia Qingyue standing high in the clouds. Her figure was misty and enchanting as if she was a fairy that had descended from heaven. Her beautiful eyes glanced at Yun Che, before she turned around to leave, floating away with the clouds.
“Qingyue! Where are you… Don’t go! Tell me where you are right now!”
But no matter how hard he called, Xia Qingyue still slowly disappeared into the distance before completely vanishing from his world.
“Heh, Brother-in-law, even though we don’t know where Sis went, I have become extremely powerful now! I am even stronger than her now!”
Xia Yuanba appeared in front of him as he slammed both of his iron fists together, “Before, it was Brother-in-law who kept protecting me. But from now on, it will be I who protects Brother-in-law! If anyone dares to bully Brother-in-law, even if I’m not able to beat that fellow, I’ll still put my life on the line and fight!”
“So Brother-in-law, you must definitely not get into any trouble before we find Big Sis… Pah! What I mean is that I hope Brother-in-law and Sister will always be well and that the both of you will never run into any more danger!”
“Yuanba…”
“Big Brother Yun, I’m begging you… Please come back safe and sound. Xue’er will be waiting here for you. If you don’t come back for ten years, Xue’er will be waiting here for ten years… If you never come back, then Xue’er will stay here to keep you company for all eternity…”
Feng Xue’er kneeled in her spot, her hands clasped together, her eyes shining with tears. Her cherry lips were uttering a soft prayer, as a heart-wrenching aura radiated from her.
Yun Che anxiously rushed over to where she was, “Xue’er, nothing happened to me. I’m fine now, and I’ll be coming out soon, so you’ll be able to see me again. Xue’er… Xue’er!”
But Feng Xue’er could not hear his voice. No matter how loud he yelled, she still kneeled in tearful prayer, her melancholy and grief were boundless.
“Yun Che, before I even realized it, we’ve already been separated for so many years… I am waiting for you in a safe haven and I’ve even borne you an adorable daughter. So why haven’t you found us yet…”
At the very edges of his vision, he seemed to catch sight of a snowy figure. Even though it was only her back, it still remained as dreamily beautiful as ever. Yun Che’s heart was so agitated that he lost all control as he desperately tried to draw closer. He yelled at the top of his lungs, “Little Fairy! Is that you… Where are you right now!? Quickly tell me where you are! Answer me please!!”
Before he could even wait for a reply, his vision slightly blurred, after which, that figure had completely vanished as well.
But right in front of him appeared two figures at the same time. When Yun Che saw them, he simply stood in place, as he stuttered out a response, “Ling… er…”
On the left stood Su Ling’er. She was slender and elegant, all dressed in white silk. Her expression was one of melancholy and there was an eternal sadness written between her brows. On the right stood Su Ling’er once again but this was the young Ling’er. She was ten years of age, her delicate features slowly budding into wonderful maturity.
She softly spoke, “Yun Che, even though you owe me an entire lifetime, I have no regrets. Do you know that the moment that I died was the happiest moment in my entire life? Because I could sense those tears that you shed were for me.”
“If there is such a thing as reincarnation, even if we will meet the same end, I will still be like a moth drawn to your flame…”
“Ling’er…” Yun Che sank to his knees, his chest filled with boundless guilt, pain, loathing and regret…
“Big Brother Yun Che.” The young Ling’er had the purest and most innocent hope in her eyes, “You promised me that you would definitely be back to take me as your bride. Ling’er has been waiting… waiting every single day. So many years have gone by and Ling’er has already grown up. So why hasn’t Big Brother Yun Che come to fetch me…”
“Ling’er… I’ve done you wrong! But I will immediately find a way to get to the Azure Cloud Continent. Just wait for me a while longer… just a short while longer! In this life, I will definitely never hurt you nor forsake you, I definitely won’t…”
Ping!!
At this moment, that pure white world shattered into fragments and a boundless darkness replaced it instead.
“Urgh…”
A dry croak came from Yun Che’s lips. He opened his eyes with much difficulty and all he could see was boundless darkness.
“Jasmine… I think that… I shouldn’t be dead.” Yun Che said with a small grin on his face.
“Hmph! Hurry up and start healing your wounds!” Jasmine said in a huffy and angry voice, “To think that you’d actually dare to open ‘Rumbling Heaven’ again before your wounds were fully healed! If you didn’t stake it all on the ignition of your Phoenix and Golden Crow blood, you would have long ago become a shattered corpse!”
“Heh…” Yun Che gave a self-satisfied chuckle instead, “I said it before, didn’t I!? I can definitely… do it!”
Jasmine, “…”
“But this time around, my injuries were really… quite serious.” Yun Che muttered to himself. After that he used all of his might to take in a long breath of air, focusing his mind, calming down his blood and energy and slowly entering a state where he could begin his recovery.
His extremely abnormal recovery ability had always been the main reason he dared to keep risking his own neck.
When Yun Che opened his eyes once more, several hours had already passed.
However, not only had he not fully recovered from his old wounds, he had suffered even more injuries since then. Even if Yun Che possessed the power of the Rage God and the body of the Dragon God, it was definitely impossible for him to completely recover in such a short period of time. But these few hours of rest had stabilized his injuries. Furthermore, he had lost so much blood that he felt extremely anemic at the moment.
He had also encountered a very large obstacle when he tried to recover his strength.
“I have only recovered about forty percent of my strength and if I want to fully recover, it will need a decidedly long period of time.” Yun Che muttered to himself. But at the very least, his power was recovering faster than his wounds.
“You opened the ‘Rumbling Heaven’ gate twice in one day and this severely exhausted your profound veins! The fact that you can somehow recover forty percent of your strength is remarkable in and of itself! Even if you have the Evil God Profound Veins, you will need at least half a month to make a full recovery!” Jasmine said in a huffy and irritated tone, “Furthermore, you also ignited your Phoenix origin blood and Golden Crow origin blood… Even though it has been several years since you last ignited them forcibly like this, the damage inflicted was still very serious! So within this half a month, the power of your Phoenix flames will be cut in half, and the power of your Golden Crow flames will drop by roughly thirty percent!
“The price that you have paid this time is simply…” Jasmine’s voice stopped as the complex feelings in her heart made it hard for her to speak.
Yun Che sat up straight before he stood up once more. The movement caused wounds that covered his entire body to tear. It was so painful that Yun Che could not help but grimace. He stretched out a hand and a flame ignited on top of it… Even though it was still a Golden Crow flame, its aura of destruction was indeed much weaker.
“It doesn’t matter, it’s not like it won’t recover forever. It will only take half a month.” The flames went out but Yun Che still had a relaxed smile on his face, “Compared to the result we obtained, the price I had to pay was simply insignificant.”
Before he had fainted, he had felt the four petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower being harvested by the power of the Sky Poison Pearl… Or else how would he be able to faint in peace.
“An insignificant price? That is considered an insignificant price to you!?” Jasmine grew furious once more, “Could it be that you do not know what you just endured!? You were one inch away from your body and soul being annihilated! But right now, you actually… you actually still don’t feel like it’s anything much?”
“Even though we didn’t get the best result, we still managed to get four flower petals in the end. As for the process, why the hell do we need to care about it anymore!” Yun Che was still smiling merrily, as if the Netherworld Udumbara Flower had not left the shadow of terror in his heart, “Jasmine, don’t you suddenly feel that I am way more awesome than you ever imagined! I have just accomplished a feat that you felt was absolutely impossible to do!”
“You… are really stupid! You’re the biggest idiot… IDIOT!!” Jasmine yelled in frenetic fury, she sounded as if she hated that she could not come out of the Sky Poison Pearl and give him a good walloping.
Yun Che closed his eyes as he prepared for his consciousness to enter the Sky Poison Pearl… But all of sudden, he opened his eyes again as he suspiciously surveyed his surroundings.
In order to counteract the terrifying soul stealing ability of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, he had used the Dragon God Soul, the Phoenix Soul and the Golden Crow Soul, so in the end, he had used up so much energy that he had run empty. So the moment he woke up, it should not only be his power and his body that became frail, his mind should also be exceptionally frail and weak at this point of time.
But at this moment, his mind was not only not muddled, it was actually exceptionally clear! What was even stranger… was that his spiritual perception had originally been suppressed to an extremely small radius within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. But right now, he could clearly feel the flow of energy within a radius of more than thirty meters!
What was going on? Why did my mental power instead…
However, he chose to focus all his attention on the Netherworld Udumbara Flower first. He did not give it much more thought as he focused his consciousness and entered the Sky Poison Pearl.
Chapter 792 - Mysterious Black Jade
In the world of the Sky Poison Pearl, Jasmine stood with her back facing him, a cold look on her face. On the small bed beside her, Hong’er was snoring lightly after having eaten her fill.
That gloomy purple light was especially eye-catching in this jade-green world.
The four petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower were perfectly unharmed, and they were currently being surrounded by a thin layer of green light as they floated quietly in place. Even then, that purple light still shone clearly through it, but it did not affect Yun Che’s soul in any way.
“It looks like its soul stealing ability has been sealed by the Sky Poison Pearl.” Yun Che said in relief as he drew closer.
“Hmph! What does that have to do with the Sky Poison Pearl!? The moment the Netherworld Udumbara Flower was harvested, I was the one who sealed its hellish power so that it would not leak out any more.” Jasmine turned around, her face tilted to the side as she refused to look at him.
“Hm?” Yun Che stared at Jasmine’s tiny face and asked her with a shocked and doubtful look on his face, “Jasmine, your eyes seem a bit weird. Why do I get the feeling that… you were crying before this?”
“What… nonsense!” Jasmine’s reaction was akin to cat whose tail had been stepped on, “Crying? Me? What a ridiculous thing to say!”
“…” Jasmine’s weird reaction caused Yun Che’s eyes to be filled with suspicion. He redirected his gaze to the Netherworld Udumbara Flower once more and said in a sincere voice, “Two profound cores from a Sovereign Profound Beast, more than thirty five kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal and now we finally have the Netherworld Udumbara Flower as well… Jasmine, all the things that you needed have been gathered. So now you can begin to reform your body, correct? Or do you still need to fulfill any other conditions? Such as a certain environment, or some kind of external energy…”
“There is no need for anything else! Now that all of these items have been gathered, I can start right away!” Jasmine said as she shook her head. After that, she gave Yun Che a very deep look as she said in irate tone, “The fact that you were able to obtain this four petal Netherworld Udumbara Flower far exceeded my expectations but you must never ever do such a thing… Forget it! In any case, you never listen to anything that I say!”
“I can begin reconstituting my body right away!” Jasmine repeated as her eyes grew focused, “Right now, I am unable to go outside and while the Sky Poison Pearl is able to house spirit bodies, it is unable to harbor any living creatures. If I try it here, it will come with the risk that something strange occurs during the process. So, the best possible choice and the only choice left to me right now would be to use the Primordial Profound Ark.”
“I was also thinking of that.” Yun Che said as he nodded his head.
“Once I have regained my physical form, the devil energy within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest will not harm me in the slightest. As for that sealing barrier…” Contempt appeared on Jasmine’s face as she spoke, “I can tear it apart with a twist of my fingers.”
She glanced over as she continued, “The reason why you were not bothered by the barrier being resealed and you being left behind is because you assumed that once I regained my physical form, I would be able to easily tear open this barrier, correct?”
“You’re absolutely right.” Yun Che said as he looked intently at the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, his hand on his jaw. He looked like he was pondering something deeply before he continued to speak, “However, before that… Oh right, Jasmine! Roughly how much time will it take for your body to be reconstituted?”
Jasmine fell silent as she furrowed her brows in thought. After that she replied, “Even though I know the method, I have never tried it before. According to the records and given my degree of strength, it shouldn’t take too long. It will roughly take around twenty odd hours, give or take. Perhaps it will be longer, perhaps it will be shorter. But there shouldn’t be too much of a discrepancy from the estimate that I’ve made.”
“I see.” This amount of time was far shorter than Yun Che had imagined it to be. Things on the same level as Jasmine were indeed things that he were basically unable to understand or measure given his knowledge.
After silently calculating how long he had been trapped in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, he suddenly spoke up, “Jasmine, your soul body is unable to leave me for too long a period of time, correct? But what if you were in the Primordial Profound Ark? After all, it has already been absorbed into my body.”
Jasmine immediately understood what Yun Che was trying to get at. She shook her head sharply and with no hesitation, “Of course not! The Primordial Profound Ark forms its own world. If I am within the Primordial Profound Ark and you are not, even if it is absorbed into your body, we will still be separated by two worlds! If that situation continues for even a moderate period of time, my soul will be scattered to the four winds before I’d be able to finish reconstituting my body.”
“Could it be that you can’t wait for me to finish reconstituting my body and you want to leave the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest earlier?”
“Sort of.” Yun Che said as he nodded his head, “I’ve already been here for three days. If my calculations aren’t too far off, the Devil Sword Conference will start in around twelve to fourteen hours. If I can get out now, I can make it just in time.”
“Before I reconstitute my body, I won’t be able to materialize in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest! So how are you going to get out?” Just as she finished speaking, a thought flashed through Jasmine’s mind, “Could it be that you want to try…”
“Well, I should give it a try at the very least!” Yun Che rubbed both his hands together, an eager expression on his face,” If I can succeed, then that would naturally be great. If I fail, then it won’t really matter much either way. The main objective I came to Supreme Ocean Palace for has already been achieved. The Devil Sword Conference isn’t something that I feel like I definitely need to participate in.”
Yun Che’s consciousness left the Sky Poison Pearl and he opened his eyes once more. He ignited his Golden Crow Flames and borrowed the firelight to guide his steps forward.
Bang.
A sound suddenly rang out from behind him, it sounded as if some sort of stone had fallen to the ground. The sound was very faint, but in this silent world, it could be heard clear as day. It caused Yun Che to instantly halt in his tracks as his completely relaxed nerves tensed up, like he had come into contact with electricity.
Bang… bang… bang, bang, bang…
Something hard continued to fall against the ground, and it was getting faster and faster. The moment Yun Che decided to turn around, he heard a huge explosion suddenly shake the place.
Bang!!
“Don’t worry.” Jasmine said in a tepid tone, “It is just the stone wall at very end of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest finally collapsing. When you destroyed the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, most of the energy from your attack had exploded against that wall. Even though it did not collapse then and there many cracks had been formed in it. But I didn’t think that it would actually collapse now.”
“Ah, so that’s what it was.” Yun Che said as he gave a soft sigh of relief.
“Go take a look!” Jasmine abruptly said, “That is the stone wall at the very end of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. Now that it has caved in… it is very possible that there is another world behind it!”
Yun Che moved forward as instructed, his footsteps were exceptionally cautious. At the same time, he caused the Golden Crow flames to burn even more intensely as they expanded the radius of his vision slightly.
Crunch!
A small sound rang out as he stepped on something that was scattered on the ground. Yun Che swiftly focused on what was below his feet and he was astonished to find that he had stepped on a pile of black ash.
This was what remained after the Golden Crow flames had burned up the body of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign!
But only part of it had become ash, there was also something that the Golden Crow flames could not incinerate, it was as hard and solid as a boulder.
Yun Che did not pay any attention to it as he continued moving forward. He very quickly reached the point where the light of his flames shone on a pile of pitch-black rubble.
Yun Che flung out his arm, pushing the Golden Crow flames in his hand forward. The moment the flames touched the ground, they shone even brighter, fully illuminating the path ahead… Half of the pitch-black stone wall that was at the end of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest had crumbled, shattered stones littering the ground.
Beyond that wall lay a black hole that gave off the feeling of a deep abyss.
The Golden Crow flames that he tossed near the wall clearly illuminated the entire outline of that “black hole”. But he could only see a dreadful inky darkness that lay beyond. He was not able to see what was inside at all. The Golden Crow flames were right next to the black hole, but their light could not penetrate into its interior.
It seemed to Yun Che that even if the strongest light one could imagine came into contact with the world behind that stone wall, it would be swallowed up in an instant.
“That is… Behind that wall, there seems to be another dimension!” Yun Che said in a low voice and he found that he was unconsciously holding his breath. He suddenly thought of something. He was able to blast this stone wall open when he had pushed himself to his limits, but given the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s strength… Perhaps he would have needed a longer time but he definitely had the ability to blast it open as well.
But before it had been struck by his sword blast, this stone wall had clearly been completely untouched.
Could it be that for an entire ten thousand years, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had failed to discover the world that lay on the other side of the wall?
Or… was it that he was aware of it but for some reason, he chose not to blast that wall open?
Or perhaps… that stone wall was constructed by the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign in the first place!?
Yun Che’s heart burned with a huge suspicion and an intense curiosity. He once again ignited a cluster of Golden Crow flames in his hand. After that, he began to stride forward, intending to approach that “black hole” and investigate just what kind of world lay behind that stone wall.
But before his foot had even touched the ground, Jasmine suddenly shouted in alarm, “Don’t approach that black hole! Immediately get back!!”
Yun Che’s body froze before he immediately turned around and retreated by a good distance.
“Jasmine, what’s wrong? Is there something dangerous in that place?” Yun Che asked cautiously.
“It is far more than merely being dangerous!” Jasmine said in an extremely serious voice, “I finally know where the dark devil energy in this place is coming from!”
“…So it’s coming from inside that black hole?” Yun Che asked with sunken brows.
“That’s right! It lies behind that stone wall! To be able to release darkness energy of such a high level, whatever is hidden behind that wall is definitely extremely terrifying!” Jasmine’s voice grew more and more serious. He did not know if he was mishearing it but Yun Che could sense fear and alarm shooting through Jasmine’s voice right now, “Moreover, when I extended my senses into the interior of that black hole just now…”
Jasmine’s voice came to a sudden halt and a long time passed before she finally exhaled faintly and continued, “I don’t know how to describe what kind of feeling that was. Whatever it is, you need to leave immediately and you must never ever approach this place again!”
Yun Che gave a grunt of assent as he continued to draw back. It was just that this time, his retreat was much more leisurely. He was only alarmed at that terrifying unknown existence that laid behind that stone wall.
He was willing to repeatedly risk his life to obtain the Netherworld Udumbara Flower but he would definitely not be so stupid as to risk his life for the sake of satisfying his meaningless curiosity!
After he had retreated several steps, Yun Che turned around… But just as he was turning his body, he saw a faint shimmer of light flash across the corner of his eyes.
Hm? Light!?
How could there be anything that reflected light in this place?
After hesitating for a moment, Yun Che abruptly began striding forward at a quick pace.
“What are you trying to do!?” Jasmine asked in shock as she thought that he intended to force his way into that world behind the stone wall.
Once he was in the approximate location of where he saw that light being reflected, he stopped and began to slowly lower his body to the ground.
In front of him lay the pile of ashes of that was all that remained of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. It was this pile of ash that had been unintentionally stepped on and scattered by him. Amidst the scattered ashes, there was a bizarre black light that was being reflected by the Golden Crow flames.
Yun Che extended a hand and reached towards the item that was flashing with light, retrieving it from the pile of ashes.
It was a round piece of black jade that fit perfectly in his palm. It was heavy and cold to the touch and it was flawlessly jet-black all over. It was extremely smooth and glossy and he did not see a single marking or rune anywhere on its surface.
“What is this?” Jasmine asked suspiciously.
“I have no idea either. In fact, I was just about to ask you the same question.” Yun Che carefully examined it but he could not find anything odd. Furthermore, Jasmine’s words also told him that even she did not know what this was.
But he could definitely confirm one thing, this item was definitely something that belonged to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was isolated in this place for ten thousand years but he had not thrown this item away. It was clear that he had always kept it on his person… If that was the case, then it definitely could not be merely a piece of ordinary black jade!!
Even the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s flesh had been burned to ashes by the Golden Crow flames, yet this jade remained completely undamaged. Just this point alone would be enough to prove that it was no common item.
It was just that it had no markings and no runes, it did not even give off any form of energy aura at all! Just from its aura alone, it appeared to be no more than a most ordinary piece of jade, something that was not even comparable to the lowest-grade profound jade.
“Jasmine, can you feel anything special about it?” Yun Che brought the black jade even closer to his eyes as he strove to discover something about it.
“…Why don’t you try and infuse your profound energy into it?” Jasmine asked.
“Alright!”
Yun Che summoned a thread of energy and he slowly and gently infused that thread of profound energy into the black jade. Immediately, a deep shock appeared on his face. With a flip of his hand, he sent an even stronger thread of profound energy into the black jade… and his face grew even more stunned and amazed.
“What is going on?” His expression caused Jasmine’s brows to knit together as she immediately asked him a question.
“It disappeared!?” Yun Che still stared at his palm in disbelief. The two threads of profound energy that he had infused into this piece of black jade had disappeared like a drop of water in an ocean, it had vanished without a trace. And this reflective black jade still did not give off any aura!
It was as if the two threads of profound energy had been swallowed up by a bottomless abyss, forever disappearing from this earth.
“Disappeared?” Jasmine’s expression was just as shocked as Yun Che. She thought about it for a while before speaking in a low voice, “Since it was something that belonged to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, then it is extremely likely that it is something on the level of the devils! Its mysteries will not be so easily divined by any ordinary power.”
“But don’t think too deeply about it right now and set it aside for the time being, it may come in use in the future. Right now, you’d be better off focusing your energy and attention on thinking of a way to escape from this place!”
Chapter 793 - Gigantic Ice Flame
Yun Che first came to the spot that was right in front of the exit of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. He stood before the barrier as two streams of profound energy simultaneously surged out from both his arms. Flames ignited around his left hand while ice crystal coalesced in his right hand.
Scarlet profound light and icy-blue profound light were swiftly being gathered between his arms as they expanded outwards. After that he closed his eyes and focused his mind, his Evil God profound energy circulated as he slowly merged these two mutually repulsive forces together.
Three days ago, he had deliberately stayed behind in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest that was surrounded by an extremely strong isolating barrier. Even though this barrier was known as the strongest barrier in the Profound Sky Continent and even the powers of the Four Sacred Masters combined would not be able to break it open, his ice flames were something that violated the very laws and principles of this world. In fact, it was something that could even be called a heaven-defying existence! When he was still only at the Sky Profound Realm, he was able to use these ice flames to melt the walls of the Primordial Profound Ark. When he had entered the initial stages of the Emperor Profound Realm, these ice flames were able to completely erase the Sun Moon Elder Ye Shi by simply touching him.
“Jasmine, this barrier may be the called the strongest barrier in the Profound Sky Continent but it shouldn’t be more solid and resilient than the Primordial Profound Ark, right!? The ice flames were even able to damage the Profound Primordial Ark, so it should definitely be able to break apart this barrier.” Yun Che said with an air of confidence.
When he had first formed the ice flame, he needed to be completely focused and his profound veins and body would also experience a heavy burden. If he just relaxed a tick, it was possible that he would lose control of the ice flame and harm himself. But now, he could practically create them at will.
“The Primordial Profound Ark is something from the Primordial Era, so how can this sealing barrier even compare to it?” Jasmine said disdainfully, “But don’t forget, you needed six whole months to create a breach in the walls of the Primordial Profound Ark that you could use to exit, and you created nearly a thousand ice flames in the process.”
“Moreover, the walls of the Primordial Profound Ark did not have the ability to repair themselves. So even though this sealing barrier is far weaker than the Primordial Profound Ark, the moment it receives any damage, it will swiftly repair itself! So if you want to get out, you’ll need to blast open a rather large hole!”
“That’s something I do know.” Yun Che said as he gave a small nod of his head, “But do you think that I can succeed?”
“I don’t know.” Jasmine said without thinking but after that she doubled back on her words, “The so-called ‘ice flame’ that you hold in your hands is something that basically violates all the principles and laws of the world! I had never even heard of such a thing before this. Furthermore, I was always unable to sense what kind of principles of power it operated on, and its might is also something that I cannot fathom… Or perhaps, it does not even have anything that can be conceptualized as ‘power’. It is not possible to use conventional knowledge or common sense to predict what it can do.”
“At Frozen Cloud Asgard half a year ago, that elder from the Sun Moon Divine Hall merely touched the ice flame but he could not even put up any resistance as was incinerated to the point where even his bones had melted away. That result was something that completely exceeded my expectations. Today, I am naturally completely unable to say anything conclusive, you will just have to find out by giving it a shot.”
“Alright, let’s give it a shot then!” Before Yun Che’s arms drew back before he gently pushed them forward. This also pushed the ice flame against the isolation barrier.
The destructive power of the ice flames were undoubtedly terrifying and Yun Che was convinced that they would even be able to seriously injure one of the Four Scared Masters if they came into contact with them. But creating the ice flame not only required him to be focused, it also required a lot of time. He also had to be extremely careful in handling them. He did not even dare use too much force when he flung it out. Therefore, while it was useful in assassinations, it was unusable in real combat.
Otherwise, if the ice flame could be conjured as easily as all his other flames and flung out with full force, he could definitely trample all over the Sacred Grounds, roaming the Profound Sky Continent without a care in the world.
The ice flame soundlessly started burning the moment they came into contact with the barrier.
The burning of the ice flame had always been completely silent. This time was no exception. Under the remaining light, Yun Che witnessed the ice flame instantly burning a round hole into that incredibly resilient isolation barrier that had existed for an entire ten thousand years…
It was as if a hole had been burned into a silk cloth.
This hole was only about the size of his palm but as the ice flame continued to eat away at the barrier, that hole grew deeper and deeper. By the time the ice flame had completely dissipated, that hole was half a foot deep… But it was still not deep enough to pierce the barrier.
Ssss!!
The sound of sizzling lightning continuously rang out in the air as the blue light around the damaged barrier began to flash. Energy surged forth from all directions as the barrier began to ripple like water.
One breath later, the ripples had died down and the hole that had been gouged out by the ice flame had completely disappeared. He could not even see a single trace of the damage that it had previously done.
Yun Che, “…”
Outside the barrier.
“Xue’er, why don’t you return with royal father first… Royal father will definitely assign people to watch over this place twenty four hours a day. The moment there is any movement, I will immediately alert you. Is that okay?”
Feng Hengkong looked at his daughter with pain in his eyes as he tried his best to reason with her. For the past three days, he would come once a day. He could see that Feng Xue’er was growing more wan and thin with each passing day. It was just that Feng Xue’er refused to budge, no matter what he said.
Given his understanding of his own daughter, she was not an obstinate and stubborn person. On the contrary, she had always been obedient to him and the Phoenix God. She had always listened to what they had to say.
But once it was something that concerned Yun Che, she would actually become this stubborn… or one could even call it resolute and determined.
Before this, Yun Che had been the person he had hated the most in this world and he could barely contain his desire to personally and cruelly end his life… But right now, he was fervently praying with all his might that Yun Che was still alive, and he was even praying that he was completely unharmed at the moment.
Because he was afraid that his daughter’s smile would be forever taken away if something really happened to Yun Che.
“Royal Father, you don’t need to worry about me. Big Brother Yun will definitely be alright. Moreover, he cares for me so much that he definitely would not be willing to keep me waiting for long.” Feng Xue’er closed her eyes as she spoke softly, both her hands still placed on her chest.
“Divine Phoenix Sect Master, stop trying to convince her. Tomorrow is the day of the Devil Sword Conference, so you definitely must be busy preparing a lot of things. You don’t need to worry about Little Sister Xue’er, leave it to me.” Xia Yuanba chose this moment to speak out.
The sky had grown dark and it was dotted with stars. The curtain of night had already begun to fall over the blue sky and ocean. The moment this curtain of night was pierced by the light of the sun once more, it would signal the beginning of the Devil Sword Conference. All in all, it would only be ten to twelve hours before it began.
On this exceedingly rare occasion, nearly all the top practitioners of the Profound Sky Continent would be gathered in one place. The meeting that was purportedly for the sake of comprehending “the mysteries of the Divine Profound” was an event that many of its attendees looked forward to with much anticipation.
“Haah…” Feng Hengkong’s lips moved but in the end, he could only sigh. The fact that Yun Che had been sealed inside the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest had long ago spread through Supreme Ocean Palace, so all of the people who came to attend the Devil Sword Conference were well-aware of this fact. Initially, people kept coming to this place to see if Yun Che was truly capable of escaping from this place. But from the second day onwards, very few people came to investigate.
From the third day, everyone thought that Yun Che was undoubtedly dead.
Because this was the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest!!
Even the Four Sacred Masters would not be able to last a day inside there.
“Xue’er, if you truly believe that Yun Che will definitely return alive, then your royal father will also believe that as well… So your royal father will also come to visit this place every day.”
Before he left, Feng Hengkong lightly patted Feng Xue’er’s shoulder as he gave a silent sigh and suppressed all the emotion in his heart.
He was beginning to feel more and more that for the Divine Phoenix Sect to get entangled with this Yun Che… was the greatest calamity that had struck them in the past five thousand years!!
Compared to Feng Xue’er, Xia Yuanba was far less worried about the current situation. Once his Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins awakened, his temperament, mental state and will had all been affected by it. He was far more cool and composed than he was before. This coupled with the fact that he had absolute trust in Yun Che meant that despite three days having passed, he still firmly believed that Yun Che would definitely have enough confidence to escape if he was willing to stay behind in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.
“Just what method can we use to blow a hole in this barrier…” Xia Yuanba stared at the barrier with furrowed brows, his mind tossing and turning as he rummaged his mind for an answer to this question.
At this moment, Feng Xue’er’s delicate body suddenly shivered fiercely as her phoenix eyes sprung open and she asked in an agitated voice, “Bulky Big Brother, did you just hear a sound just now?”
“A sound? What sound?” Xia Yuanba asked in a dazed voice, he had been deep in thought so he had not heard anything.
“It came from the barrier!” Feng Xue’er’s body descended as she shouted in an extremely emotional voice, “Big Brother Yun, is that you… Big Brother Yun, it’s definitely you, right!?”
Within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.
“Even though this barrier is a bit stronger than I had expected, in the end, it’s still possible to destroy it with the ice flame.”
Although his first attempt had ended in failure, there was no sign of disappointment on Yun Che’s face. He took two steps back and stretched out both his arms once more. His left hand burned ablaze while icy energy congealed in his right hand… However this time, he did not care about any injury he might receive, he circulated his profound energy to its strongest. The flames on his left started to burn even more intensely while icy energy began to crazily gather at his right… Even after he had gathered those energies for more than ten breaths, he still had not stopped.
“You want to conjure up a huge ice flame?” Jasmine, who had noticed what he intended to do, spoke in a serious tone, “You’re taking a completely needless risk right now! I won’t need more than one or two days to reconstitute my body! Can’t you even wait for this little bit of time!? To once again go as far as to… Your wounds aren’t even completely healed yet, your profound veins are still running on empty! So to attempt to forcibly create such a gigantic ice flame right now, you are basically gambling with your life!”
“No!” Yun Che shook his head, an extremely confident expression on his face, “If it was before, I’d indeed be gambling with my life. But right now, I am nearly one hundred percent confident that I can pull this off.”
“One hundred percent confident? Where is this confidence even coming from?” Jasmine asked suspiciously, “In the past, you have never even tried to conjure up such a huge ice flame! Let alone trying to do it in your present state!”
“When I woke up just now, I discovered that not only was my mind not exhausted, it was actually extremely clear. I even feel like my mental strength has suddenly improved by leaps and bounds. When I conjured that first ball of ice flame just now, I found that I was not mistaken. Despite the serious injuries that I sustained and the current handicap on my profound strength, haven’t you realized that the time it took to create that ice flame was even faster than usual?”
“…I also felt that it was strange that your head wasn’t feeling the least bit heavy after you woke up.” Jasmine said as she lapsed into thought for a moment. After that, she muttered to herself in a soft voice, “Could it be that after he endured that exceedingly torturous soul stealing power… his soul actually rose to a new level? Or is it… that the Dragon God Soul, Phoenix Soul and Golden Crow Soul were now even more tightly bonded with his soul?
Or could it be that… both of these things had occurred!?
“Whenever I tried to create a slightly larger ice flame in the past, self-doubt would unconsciously manifest in my heart while warning bells rang in my head. This caused me to feel like I had no chance of succeeding and that if I did try to force the issue, it would only lead to disastrous consequences for me. But this time, even though I am clearly still hurt, I am not feeling any sense of danger or any self-doubt. On the contrary, my heart is cool and composed.”
Yun Che inhaled a deep breath before he drew back both of his hand as he slowly brought the extremely intense and strong fire and ice energies together and began to merge them…
Fifteen minutes went by…
Half an hour went by…
This process had only finished once forty five minutes had passed. Yun Che opened his eyes and an icy blue flame that was a foot and a half tall silently burned in the center of his palm!
“To think that…” Jasmine sucked in a small breath, “Not only did the Netherworld Udumbara Flower not cause any permanent harm to your soul, in the end, it actually gave it a huge boost of power. You truly are a freak.”
Yun Che’s chest rose and fell rapidly. His forehead was matted in cold sweat but his expression was one of intense excitement.
A flame that was only a foot and a half tall was completely insignificant and pathetic if these were normal profound flames we were talking about. But when it came to the ice flames, this was an exceedingly terrifying notion. Even though it was silently burning in the center of Yun Che’s palms, only Yun Che knew that even though he had just created this flame, he was already starting to lose control over them.
“This time, I’m definitely going to be able to blow this barrier apart!” Yun Che muttered to himself as cautiously pushed his hands forward.
Chapter 794 - Jasmine Reconstructs Her Body
The moment the ice flame touched the barrier, it continued its inexorable journey forward, not slowing in the slightest.
The strongest isolating barrier in the entire Profound Sky Continent was being brushed aside like a weak curtain of water. It was as though an raging flame was touching cold ice, because in the blink of an eye, a huge hole had been melted in the barrier. As the ice flame bored in deeper and deeper, the hole was not only not repairing itself, it was actually slowly growing larger as the destructive power of the ice flame continued to eat away at it.
A faint beam of light started to shine through from outside the barrier. Even though it was night in the outside world, the night sky of the Profound Sky Continent was like glaring sunlight compared to the absolute darkness of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest… Without making a single sound, the ice flames had completely pierced through the isolating barrier.
Furthermore, the hole that it had made was more than two feet wide!
Even though Yun Che had been full of confidence, he had not expected his plan to go so swimmingly… because the barrier in front of him had been publicly acknowledged as the most powerful barrier in the entire Profound Sky Continent! To think that it was not even able to withstand a single strike from the ice flame! Before he had even withdrawn the hands that he had pushed out, a hole had already punched through the barrier.
“Hurry up and go!” Jasmine exclaimed.
Even though Yun Che’s heart was still in shock, his body reacted instantly. Just before the sizzling sound of the barrier repairing itself rang through the air, he had already activated Star God’s Broken Shadow as he flashed out of there like lightning.
Riiip!!
The speed at which the barrier repaired itself was incomparably fast. It was just after the instant he cleared the exit that he heard an ear-splitting thunderclap explode behind him. The hole that was made by the ice flames was swiftly closing and it looked like it was about to disappear altogether just a moment later. The only thing left in its wake were extremely fast-moving energy ripples.
The world before his eyes was no longer cloaked in inky darkness, the air around him was no longer heavy and gloomy. The cool sea breeze caused Yun Che to feel extremely refreshed. Just as his body came to a halt, he felt himself being tightly hugged by a body as soft as cotton wool.
Feng Xue’er gave a cry as she tightly hugged him, she started bawling her eyes out almost immediately after that.
Yun Che froze there for a moment, but after that, he immediately took action… Feng Xue’er must have stayed here for the past few days waiting for his return… Just like what he saw in that dreamy wonderland.
He hugged Feng Xue’er tightly as he softly whispered to her, “Xue’er, I’m sorry. I’ve made you worry for the past few days.”
Feng Xue’er leaned against his chest as she sobbed and shook her head, “As long as Big Brother Yun is okay then that’s fine… I knew Big Brother Yun would definitely make it out in one piece…”
“Brother-in-law… This is great.” Xia Yuanba had rushed over, his face flushed red with agitation and excitement. He was so emotional that he could barely speak. At this time, his expression suddenly changed as he shouted anxiously, “Brother-in-law, you’re hurt!?”
Yun Che’s aura was thin and shallow and his face was white as a sheet! His aura was half as strong as it was normally and Xia Yuanba could clearly smell blood wafting off him! It was clear that he had sustained extremely serious internal and external injuries and had lost a lot of blood as well!
“Ah?!” Feng Xue’er cried out in alarm, her petite face jerking up from Yun Che’s chest. It was only now that she noticed that his aura was weak and disordered and that his body was covered in wounds. She could even see quite a few wounds on his face that had not fully healed yet.
“Big Brother Yun, you…”
“Don’t worry.” Yun Che smiled as he waved his hand. His expression was completely relaxed and carefree as he continued, “I met with a few accidents in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, so I ended up suffering a few injuries. But the both of you should well know that I won’t be affected by injuries this light. It is only that my profound veins have been taxed strenuously, so I will need up to half a month for them to fully recover.”
“Big Brother Yun, let… let’s return to Supreme Ocean Palace first. Your wounds will definitely get better immediately.”
Tears shimmered in Feng Xue’er’s eyes, her heart in conflict between extreme joy and distress. She supported Yun Che as they flew at the most comfortable speed possible towards Supreme Ocean Palace. Xia Yuanba, who was behind them, wanted to remind her that Yun Che had absolutely no issue moving on his own but the moment the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back down instead. After thinking for a moment, he caught up to them and shouted, “Little Sister Xue’er, Brother-in-law needs to recuperate from his injuries, so we need to find a quiet and safe place for him to rest. Bring Brother-in-law to Venerable Cloud Palace. That is where the people from my Absolute Monarch Sanctuary are currently residing, so Brother-in-law will be absolutely safe there.”
“Absolute Monarch Sanctuary?” Yun Che shook his head lightly, “I think it’s better if we don’t. I don’t want anyone to disturb me during this period.”
“Brother-in-law, you don’t need to worry.” Xia Yuanba said solemnly as he slapped his chest, “I will explain it to Master and the rest of them so that no one will come and disturb Brother-in-law… and that includes even the Lord Saint Emperor himself.”
Yun Che gave it some thought before finally nodding his head and replying, “Alright then.”
Absolute Monarch Sanctuary was the head of the Four Sacred Grounds. Being beside them would indeed be the safest place on the Profound Sky Continent.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Nest was only fifty kilometers away from Supreme Ocean Palace, so the three of them reached Supreme Ocean Palace very quickly. After that, they were ushered into Venerable Cloud Palace where Absolute Monarch Sanctuary were being housed under Xia Yuanba’s instructions, arriving at the pavilion where Xia Yuanba was staying at.
“Brother-in-law, I’ve already sent a sound transmission to my master. You can be at ease and focus on your recovery here, there definitely won’t be anyone who will disturb you.” Xia Yuanba said confidently.
“…” Yun Che glanced outside the door of the pavilion and asked with furrowed brows, “What’s going on? Why is Supreme Ocean Palace so quiet? From the moment we returned here from the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, I haven’t even spotted a single person. I did not even see the disciples who normally keep watch over Supreme Ocean Palace… Could it be due to the Devil Sword Conference that will begin once the morning comes?”
“That’s right.” Xia Yuanba said as he nodded his head, “According to what Master said, something extraordinary will happen tomorrow. The Thirteen Star Alignment, a rare occurrence that happens every ten thousand years will appear. When the appointed hour arrives, the natural yin energy on this world will start flourishing to its peak, and that will also be the time when the seal of the ‘devil sword’ will be at its weakest. And this is exactly why they chose to hold the Devil Sword Conference tomorrow.”
“Furthermore, the Devil Sword Conference has been labelled as the most important event to happen in the Profound Sky Continent for the past few thousand years, so everyone is ensuring that no mishaps happen. Due to this, no one is allowed to cause any disturbances in the twenty four hour period before the Devil Sword Conference begins. Furthermore, once it is twelve hours before the conference begins, everyone is required to stay within their own pavilions and no one is allowed to go out.
“Ah, so that explains it.” Yun Che’s brows twitched as he muttered to himself.
“So Brother-in-law can recuperate in peace here. Before the Devil Sword Conference begins, there definitely won’t be anyone who will come and disturb your rest. Actually, even if I did not send out that sound transmission, even if Master and the rest knew that you had returned, they may not come at this… extremely critical period of time to visit Brother-in-law.”
“Big Brother Yun, did you obtain the item that you wanted to get? Why did you… sustain such serious injuries?” Feng Xue’er asked, her eyes filled with worry. As one of the few people who knew Yun Che best, she also knew that Yun Che’s body was far more abnormal than a normal person. So for him to sustain such serious injuries meant that he had met with uncommon danger within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.
“I stayed behind in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest in order to wait for the Netherworld Udumbara Flower to fully bloom first before plucking it. But I did not realize that there was another extremely terrifying thing besides the Netherworld Udumbara Flower that was hidden within the darkness…” After he said those words, Yun Che suddenly felt his chest grow dull and heavy. His face suddenly flushed red as a large amount of fresh blood sprayed from his mouth.
“Big… Big Brother Yun!”
“Brother-in-law!!”
Feng Xue’er was so frightened that her pretty face lost all its color. Meanwhile, Xia Yuanba had also urgently rushed over, he was so shocked that he had nearly tripped over himself and fell to the floor. Yun Che hurriedly waved his hand as he tried to console them, “Don’t worry, it’s only some clogged up blood from my internal injuries. Now that I spat that out, I actually feel a lot better… Right now I just feel a bit weak and anemic. Once I rest for a while, I’ll be fine.”
Feng Xue’er used the sleeve of her spotless snow white clothes to wipe away the blood that stained the corner of Yun Che’s mouth. She anxiously exclaimed in a watery voice, “Then you should get some rest first Big Brother Yun. Bulky Big Brother and I will keep watch over this place… Or how about we leave Supreme Ocean Palace right now and return to Frozen Cloud Asgard?”
Xia Yuanba hurriedly said as well, “Then let me leave with the both of you as well. I’ll wait till Brother-in-law gets better before returning to Absolute Monarch Sanctuary.”
“No.” Yun Che said as he shook his head, “Now is not the time for us to return. Since we are in Supreme Ocean Palace and the Devil Sword Conference will begin once day breaks, it would be a waste for us to miss it.”
“Brother-in-law, you’re going to participate in the Devil Sword Conference? But your injuries…”
“Don’t worry, I’m only going there to be an onlooker, I won’t be trying to break the seal on the devil sword. And I believe that with the state I am in right now, no one will be so dumb as to force me to participate either.” Yun Che said with a faint smile.
Once he had heard about the true origins of the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword from the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, the Devil Sword Conference, which he initially had little interest in, became an event that he could not afford to miss.
Because the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword was a true devil sword! Furthermore, there was the devil soul of a true devil sealed inside of it… and it was the devil soul of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s son at that!
According to the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s words, the devil soul within should have have been scattered to the four winds long ago. But in the end, it was still an ancient devil sword, so even if there was no devil soul within, it was very likely that there were a few mysteries hidden within that blade… Furthermore, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region had spared no expense in arranging this event, so it was very likely that they made some sort of special discovery.
Other than that, both he and Jasmine were extremely suspicious about one thing: Why did the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign say that the only way that he could save his son all those years ago was to seal his devil soul into his sword?
Xia Yuanba thought about it for a while before nodding, “Fine then, I won’t be participating in the breaking of the seal on the devil sword tomorrow either. Even if there is really some heaven-shaking secret that is hidden inside, I can hardly be bothered with it.”
Yun Che laughed as he replied, “Yuanba, you don’t need to be that considerate towards me. All of the people who are within Supreme Ocean Palace right now are totally focused on the Devil Sword Conference, so no one will have the time to come and find trouble with me.”
Yun Che paused for a moment before speaking in an apologetic tone, “Yuanba, Xue’er, I have something very important that I need to do right away. Furthermore, I can only do it if I’m alone. So I’ll have to trouble the both of you to help me keep watch outside, and no matter what you hear, you must not come in… You mustn’t let anyone else in either.”
Shock appeared on the faces of Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue’er but they did not ask Yun Che for any reasons or explanations.
“Big Brother Yun, Xue’er will be right outside. I won’t take a step further away from you.” Feng Xue’er said in a soft and gentle voice before she left the room with Xia Yuanba to keep watch over Yun Che.
The moment Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue’er left, Yun Che’s expression grew pained and he spoke in a helpless manner, “Jasmine, do you really need to start right away?”
A petite and delicate figure dressed in red appeared in front of Yun Che, her long crimson hair beautiful and dazzling. She ignored Yun Che’s words and surveyed her surroundings before floating in the air. She then moved to the innermost part of the pavilion, settling in a corner of the room that was separated by a curtain. She said in a placid tone, “This spot will do. Bring over all the required items now.”
“…” Yun Che was rendered speechless for a moment, but he still obediently did as he was told. In fact, he could understand why Jasmine seemed so anxious and impatient. It had been seven years, an entire seven years, since she had no choice but to assume the form of a soul body. So she must definitely have been dreaming about the day she could reconstitute her body, reclaiming her life, power and freedom in one fell swoop.
Now that all of the requirements had been met, she could barely wait even a breath longer.
“Jasmine, this is still Supreme Ocean Palace after all…”
“You don’t need to speak any further.” Jasmine said with a wave of her hand, a pout fixed on her tiny, milk-white face, “Anywhere would be fine to me. In a little while, I will set up an isolation barrier around this place and its strength will be tens of times stronger than the one that is set up around the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest! Even if it’s your ice flames, they would have no hope of breaking this barrier. A mere Profound Sky Continent does not have the qualifications to alarm or agitate one such as I.”
“Alright then.” Yun Che could only nod his head as he quietly sucked in a cold breath of air: A barrier that was tens of times stronger than the one around the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest…
Yun Che retrieved the two profound cores that came from Sovereign Profound Beasts and the thirty five kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystal… After he thought about it for a moment, he was afraid that this might not be enough, so he took out all the Purple Veined Divine Crystals that he had stored in the Sky Poison Pearl. Finally, he cautiously fished out the four Netherworld Udumbara Flower petals that were surrounded by a green light and he gently placed them behind the Purple Veined Divine Crystals.
Nearly fifty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals were stacked together, releasing an incomparably dense and rich spirit energy. Jasmine made a quick gesture with her hand as an invisible energy completely trapped all of the spirit energy that was being released by the Purple Veined Divine Crystals, so as to prevent any outsiders from detecting it—She was naturally not worried that someone would make trouble for her, she was ensuring that she would not create any problems for Yun Che.
“Are these items truly enough?” Yun Che casually asked.
“In the end, I will also require three drops of your blood essence.” After Jasmine finished speaking, her dainty finger suddenly shot out and landed between Yun Che’s brows. Before Yun Che even had any time to react, three droplets of dark red blood had floated out from between his eyes as they hovered above Jasmine’s fingertip.
These were no ordinary droplets of blood, these were droplets of his blood essence! A person’s vital energy and innate talent would be harmed if he even lost one drop of blood essence, much less three drops. The anemic and heavily injured Yun Che suddenly lost three drops of blood essence, so his vision immediately started to swim as he stumbled backwards in a faint, nearly falling over while he was at it.
However, he had the Great Way of the Buddha so even lost blood essence could be regenerated. As a result, this loss of blood essence was far less serious than it would have been for a normal profound practitioner.
“Don’t worry, after I reconstitute my body and slowly recover my vitality and strength, I will give you a drop of Star God’s Blood as compensation.” Jasmine said calmly.
Yun Che shook his head as he grimaced, “I don’t need any compensation from you. Anyways… on the very first day we met, you already sucked out a lot of my blood. If it’s you, then even if you want all the blood in my body, I would be happy and willing to give it to you.”
“Hmph!” Jasmine gave a cold and disdainful laugh, “Starting again with your insincere and flowery words again I see. I’ll say this once more, those moves that you pull to seduce women will only work on stupid women! Don’t ever think I’ll ever fall for one of your tricks!”
Jasmine had uttered similar words countless times before and every time she had said those words, they contained a deep contempt and disdain. However this time around, even though it was as harsh and cutting as it usually was, her eyes had suddenly…
“You may withdraw now because I’m about to begin. Remember, I can’t be interrupted during this period of time. The barrier that I will set up shortly will block out everything, including light and sound. So the only one who will be able to disturb me will be you. Before I come out of the barrier myself, even if something extremely important is happening, you must not send any sound transmissions to me.”
“Also, I will still need to maintain the connection I have with your life before my body is fully reconstituted. So during this period of time, you must remember that you must definitely stay within a ten kilometer radius of me. If you have no choice but to exceed this distance, you must not exceed it for more than one hundred breaths! If not, it is possible that my soul will scatter.”
Yun Che stored those words in his heart before solemnly speaking, “You don’t need to worry, I guarantee that nothing will happen… Oh right, Jasmine, I have something that I want to ask you.”
Jasmine, “?”
Yun Che gave Jasmine a measured glance before he started to speak with a strange look in his eyes, “Since you are reconstituting your body, then is it possible to change the appearance of your new body… Err, what I’m trying to ask is this. Will your appearance be exactly the same as before after you’ve obtained your new body?”
Jasmine disdainfully turned her face away from him, “When the body and soul combines into one, the soul will form the main substance of a person while the body will merely be its container. So if your soul is destroyed but your flesh remains, it will be impossible to reform your soul. But if your soul survives while your flesh is destroyed, as long as the power of your soul is sufficiently strong, you will be able to reconstitute a new body. Furthermore, reconstituting a new body does not mean that you are borrowing a body to be reborn, it is birthed from the soul, so it will naturally be no different from the soul body of the person who is reconstituting her body!”
“So the appearance that you see right now is exactly what my new body is going to look like! I couldn’t change it even if I wanted to!”
“Ah, so that’s how it is!” Yun Che hurriedly nodded his head. A relieved look appeared on his face before he spoke sincerely, “Ah, that’s great to hear! Previously, I was worried that your appearance might change after your new body has been formed. I sure as heck don’t want my most perfect Jasmine to change in the slightest. Even if it’s the tiniest of changes, I might feel that it… wouldn’t be too good.”
“…” A strange ripple passed through Jasmine’s eyes and for some unfathomable reason, she grew distracted for a moment. After that, she turned around and faced her back towards Yun Che. With a cold snort and a wave of her tiny hand, a curtain of light suddenly materialized in front of Yun Che, blocking his view of her completely.
Yun Che unconsciously backpedaled and the moment he had come to a stop, a three meter wide square-shaped barrier had already materialized before his eyes. The barrier was a faint white color, it was simple and radiated no light and it did not give off any aura. It simply seemed to be a curtain that was erected in place.
Yun Che did not utter a single word more. He slowly withdrew from the barrier, a complex look on his face as emotions started surging in his heart.
For the past few years, Jasmine had been an inextricable part of his life. Even though he had not allowed himself to develop a habit of relying on Jasmine’s power, the time they had spent together was enough for her very presence to imperceptibly become a pillar that supported him.
From the moment Jasmine reconstituted her body, she would no longer have to rely on his life to survive and she would no longer stay within the Sky Poison Pearl. So they would no longer be able to feel each other’s presence and the sound of each other’s hearts the way they used to before, when they were bonded so tightly that they could not separate themselves even if they wanted to.
He had desperately tried to help Jasmine reconstitute her body and the moment he had obtained the Netherworld Udumbara Flower for her, his heart had been filled with a wild joy. But now that the moment they had been waiting for was at hand, he discovered that his heart was not filled with unrelenting joy. On the contrary, it was filled with a complex emotion that he found hard to put into words.
“What are you thinking…” Yun Che muttered to himself as he gave a self-deprecating chuckle, “Meeting Jasmine was the most fortunate thing to ever happen to me. Without Jasmine, I wouldn’t be the person I am today… So how can I have such selfish thoughts.”
Yun Che shook his head vigorously as he strove to clear his heart and mind of all distracting thoughts. He sat down and crossed his legs as he began to calm his heart and prepared to enter a state where he could focus on his recovery.
At this moment, the back of his right hand shone with an icy-blue light before the image of the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul slowly appeared in the air.
Yun Che grew shocked… A sound transmission that came from Frozen Cloud Asgard?
He swiftly closed his eyes and concentrated, comprehending the ice soul sound transmission that came from the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul. In a flash, his eyes shot open and he shouted as he jerked to his feet, “Wha… What!!”
Chapter 795 - A Dangerous Situation
Supreme Ocean Palace. Under the cover of night.
“What did you say? Yun Che has returned?” This report caused the Sovereign of the Seas, Qu Fengyi, to react with incredulous shock.
She had sensed that there was something weird going on with the barrier around the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest so she swiftly sent men to go investigate. But she never thought that she would receive such an amazingly shocking piece of news.
“Yun Che came back with Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s Xia Yuanba and the Divine Phoenix Sect’s Princess Snow. Right now, he is at Venerable Cloud Palace. Even though no one came out to greet him, many people observed his return. So this news will definitely spread quickly.”
A green-robed elder of Supreme Ocean Palace reported all of this to the Sovereign of the Seas in a respectful tone.
“…” The Sovereign of the Seas, Qu Fengyu, pondered silently for a brief moment before speaking in a low voice, “This sovereign personally held an audience with Yun Che a few days ago. Given his strength, there is no way he could survive in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest for three days and it is even less possible that he would be able to escape… But given the current state of affairs, it seems that the tales of his master Old Man Duotian were true after all.”
“My Lord Sovereign, since this affair involves the forbidden ground of our Supreme Ocean Palace, should I immediately summon him to see you?”
“No!” The Sovereign of the Sea, Qu Fengyu, directly rejected that proposal before continuing in a bland voice, “Even though this sovereign is extremely curious as to exactly what method he used to escape from the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, the Devil Sword Conference is at hand, and we can brook no further disturbances or incidents. We will discuss this matter again once the Devil Sword Conference has ended.”
At the same time, in another corner of Supreme Ocean Palace.
“Father, this son has something to report… Yun Che has returned! Right now he is at Venerable Cloud Palace, this son saw it with his own two eyes!”
“Oh?” Xuanyuan Wentian, who had been meditating, opened his eyes as he briefly slanted his face to the side. No shock crossed his face and he only gave a mild laugh as he replied, “Then that is truly the best news I’ve heard in awhile.I was regretting the fact that we would miss a grand spectacle at the Devil Sword Conference tomorrow. But now that things are the way they are, this regret can be forgotten.”
“Father, aren’t you at all curious as to how he escaped from the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest?” Xuanyuan Wendao asked with a mystified expression on his face, “From the moment he entered the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest up till now, it has been more than eighty hours, so how exactly did he escape from there alive!? Moreover, that barrier is something that even Father is not able to do anything about but he could actually…”
“There is no need.” Xuanyuan Wentian said in a grave tone, “In ten hours, the Devil Sword Conference will convene. I have been waiting and preparing for this day for the past one thousand years! Now that the time is finally at hand, we cannot make any errors! A momentous event draws near!”
“Yes, it is this son who has reacted impulsively and recklessly.” Xuanyuan Wendao hurriedly bowed his head before cautiously continuing, “Then do we need to send anyone to keep an eye on Yun Che?”
“There’s no need!” Xuanyuan Wentian’s brows sunk by a fraction, his eyes were as calm as still water but one could see a dreadful cold light glinting in its depths, “On the contrary, don’t give him even the smallest reason to feel suspicious at all. Let him feel safe and secure when he participates in the Devil Sword Conference tomorrow. Because if we’re missing Yun Che for the Devil Sword Conference… Hmph, then it will end up being less interesting by far!”
“Yes!” Xuanyuan Wendao gave his speedy assent before a cold laugh bubbled from his throat, “That Yun Che definitely wouldn’t even dream that Father had long ago uncovered most of his secrets! Once the Devil Sword is unsealed, the Mirror of Samsara will sooner or later become part of Father’s prized possessions.”
————————————
“When did this happen? Did anything happen to the others? Do we know who did this?”
Yun Che sent a sound transmission with extreme urgency and the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul quickly rang with a reply.
Three days ago… It had already been three days!?
Yun Che, who had originally calmed his mind so that he could begin his recovery, could no longer sit still. In a flash, his heart had become so anxious that it grew numb… Xiao Yun had disappeared three days ago and it was during this period that he had been trapped within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest!
“Jasmine, we…”
The moment the words left his mouth, Yun Che suddenly realized it… Jasmine had already begun reconstituting her body, so she definitely could not be disturbed! He was not even able to discuss anything with her right now.
Furthermore, he could not go anywhere that was outside a ten kilometer radius around Jasmine… so that meant that he definitely could not return to Floating Cloud City either!
Yun Che sucked in a deep breath as he strove to swiftly compose himself.
What had happened!? Why did Xiao Yun suddenly disappear!?
If he was alive, he was missing. If he was dead, they had not found the body. Yet they had not heard any strange or abnormal sounds before he had disappeared and they were not able to find any traces of a battle. Given the strength of Xiao Yun and Number One Under Heaven, to be able to kidnap Xiao Yun while rendering him powerless to resist and escaping the notice of Number One Under Heaven, the person who performed the deed was definitely at the level of a Monarch!!
Within the Profound Sky Continent, besides the Four Sacred Grounds, the only other power that had Monarchs in their ranks was the Divine Phoenix Sect… and one Fen Juechen. Given Fen Juechen’s character and temperament, he definitely would not do such a thing. The Divine Phoenix Sect also did not have any reason to do such a thing. So that only left the Four Sacred Grounds!
However, why would any one of the Four Sacred Grounds make a move against Xiao Yun?
Could it be that Sun Moon Divine Hall had used some means to discover that I had manufactured this “Old Man Duotian”, so they decided to carry out their vengeance and kidnapped Xiao Yun to threaten me?
No, that cannot be right! If that was truly the case, given Sun Moon Divine Hall’s strength, they would be able to strike against me easily if they had seen through my deception. They would not need to make this kind of move. Even if they really wanted to capture someone to use against me, Grandfather or Little Aunt would have been far more suitable targets. No matter what, it should not have been Xiao Yun.
Right… why was it Xiao Yun in the first place!?
Yun Che’s brows sank even further. The more composure he regained, the more he realized how bad the current situation was.
Could it be that Xiao Yun’s identity… was exposed?
No… there was no reason for that to happen! Among Xiao Yun, Number One Under Heaven and Number Seven Under Heaven, Number One Under Heaven and Number Seven Under Heaven still possessed the physical characteristics of the elven race. Even though their disguise had been perfect, there was still a chance that they would be exposed. Compared to the both of them, there should have been no way anyone could tell Xiao Yun had come from the Illusory Demon Realm!
Just because he was a completely new face did not mean that someone would be able to tell that he was from the Illusory Demon Realm!
Besides, Xiao Yun was a naturally cautious person, so he had not even used the slightest bit of profound energy while he had been residing in Floating Cloud City.
Furthermore, during the many visits he had paid to Floating Cloud City over the past few months, he had not detected anyone spying on them or taking notice of them… He just occasionally sensed Fen Juechen’s aura every now and then.
“Could it be…” The most dreadful and terrible possibility appeared in Yun Che’s mind, “There are people from the Four Sacred Grounds that are still within the Illusory Demon Realm…”
Yun Che’s chest rose and fell heavily as he sucked in a deep breath. After that he raised his right hand and summoned out the Frozen Cloud Celestial Soul.
“Senior Master Murong, find a way to inform Little Aunt and the rest that Xiao Yun should be safe and sound, I have already managed to roughly guess his current location. Tomorrow, I will be bringing him home, so put their minds at ease for me. Also…” Yun Che paused for a moment, his voice growing heavier after that, “Make sure that my Grandfather, Little Aunt and Seventh Sister are all congregated within my Grandfather’s courtyard after noon tomorrow. Until I appear, make sure that they don’t even take a step outside those premises.”
Blue light flashed as his words were transmitted to Frozen Cloud Asgard which was fifty thousand kilometers away. Yun Che glanced at the isolation barrier that surrounded Jasmine as he muttered to himself in an extremely gloomy voice, “Why did it just have to be at this particular time. Haah…”
“It looks like I will have no choice but to participate in the Devil Sword Conference tomorrow after all!”
“But I have been far too negligent this time around. I actually overlooked the fact that if the Four Sacred Grounds had the power to invade Demon Imperial City, then they would naturally be capable of silently infiltrating the Illusory Demon Realm as well… Besides, they still have a spy in Duke Ming!”
“Right now, I can only hope that the matter regarding the Primordial Profound Ark has not been exposed. Or else…”
The curtain of night gradually retreated as the sky started to grow bright once more.
The Supreme Ocean Palace which had lain silent for an entire night was still exceptionally tranquil. But there was an abnormally strong profound energy that was surging in the air above it, it was almost as if it was portending that some major event was about to occur.
The surging and tossing profound energy completely roused Yun Che from his meditation. He slowly opened his eyes before inhaling a small breath of air.
Last night, he had only been thinking of the best method he could use to recover from some of his wounds. But things had turned out contrary to his wishes. First, Jasmine had left his body, then after that, he found out that Xiao Yun had disappeared. This matter was so serious that he could not completely focus for the rest of the night, so his wounds recovered far slower than they normally would.
Behind the screen that lay at the corner of the pavilion, Jasmine’s barrier was still completely still and silent. For the past seven years, he would always discuss things with Jasmine first whenever a major event had occurred. This was the first time Jasmine was not by his side so his heart was filled with an emptiness that far exceeded what he had been expecting… In fact, he was even feeling a bit bewildered and distracted at the moment.
He got up and opened the door, striding out of the pavilion. The first thing he saw was Feng Xue’er and Xia Yuanba who had kept watch all night.
“Big Brother Yun, have your injuries gotten better?” Feng Xue’er drifted close to him like a floating flower as she asked in a concerned voice.
“Mn, they’ve gotten much better.” Yun Che said as he surveyed his surroundings. He discovered that the entire palace was empty and devoid of people so he immediately asked, “Has your master and the rest of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary left for the Devil Sword Conference already?”
“Yes!” Xia Yuanba nodded his head as he replied, “Master and the rest departed from here about an hour ago. Master initially wanted to pay a visit to Brother-in-law and the other Spiritual Masters and elders also wanted to see Brother-in-law as well. But I told them that you had been seriously injured and you needed a quiet place to rest, so they did not press the issue.”
“One hour ago? The Devil Sword Conference shouldn’t start for a while, correct?” Yun Che asked as his brows twitched.
“It’ll be roughly an hour’s time before it begins… Brother-in-law, your expression is rather peculiar today. Has something happened?” Xia Yuanba blurted out after he observed Yun Che’s current expression.
“…Let’s be off then. We will go to the Devil Sword Conference as well.” Yun Che did not explain as he grasped Feng Xue’er’s hand and began walking outside.
After they had exited Venerable Cloud Palace, Yun Che was about to ask Xia Yuanba where the Devil Sword Sword Conference was being held when he saw Spiritual Master Ancient Blue standing in the courtyard. He was dressed all in white, holding a white horsetail whisk in his hand, a faint and serene smile on his face.
“Master, why are you still here? Shouldn’t you have already gone to the Sea God Arena?” Xia Yuanba asked in astonishment.
Spiritual Master Ancient Blue gave a faint laugh before his eyes turned to Yun Che, “I thought about it and decided it would be best to go with you. Little friend Yun, it looks like your injuries are indeed serious and your profound energy has greatly weakened as well. But it is good that your wounds have already stabilized and it will only require a period of quiet convalescence for you to fully recover. During this Devil Sword Conference, you should just play the role of an observer, there is no need for you to force yourself into action.”
Yun Che strode forward as he replied, “I thank Senior Ancient for his concern. Because I am currently injured, even though I am staying within Venerable Cloud Palace for a while, I have not yet been able to visit all the seniors from Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, so I’ll have to ask for your forgiveness in that regard.”
“It matters not.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue laughed merrily as he shook his head. He did not probe into how and why Yun Che had sustained those wounds and how he had been able to escape from the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest alive. He raised his head slightly to look at the sky, “In about an hour’s time, the mysterious phenomenon of all thirteen stars aligning will appear in the blue dome of the heavens. This will also be the most critical period of time when it comes to the matter of unravelling the mysteries of the devil sword. Even though it is still rather early, all of the heroes of the Profound Sky Continent have already gathered at the Sea God Arena. We should start making a move as well.”
The sun burned brightly in the blue sky above and there was nothing unusual happening at all.
The floating Ocean Palace still remained deathly silent, and they did not see a single person as they made their way to the Sea God Arena. In front of them, an incredibly astonishing aura radiated from afar… That was definitely the Sea God Arena where all the peak powerhouses of the Profound Sky Continent were gathered. It was also the place where the Devil Sword Conference was being held. It was roughly six to seven kilometers away from their current location.
This distance somewhat comforted Yun Che.
Chapter 796 - The Young Master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region
“Oh? So it is Senior Ancient.”
Just as the four of them had taken to the air, they heard a clear and bright voice ring out from their right.
A young-looking man who was dressed in green appeared. He was of average build and his looks were ordinary, it could be said that this man did not possess a single distinctive feature. His profound strength aura placed him at the latter stage of the Tyrant Profound Realm, but even in this Supreme Ocean Palace that was filled with strong individuals, his countenance was still filled with an unrestrained pride and haughtiness.
He unhurriedly took to the air and flew towards them. He arrived in front of Spiritual Master Ancient Blue as he cupped his hands and greeted him, “This junior greets you.”
“Ah, so it was the Young Sword Master.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue gave an imperceptible nod of his head as he replied in an admiring voice, “I haven’t seen you in just slightly over a decade but the cultivation of the Young Sword Master has actually improved to this extent. Your esteemed father must definitely be satisfied with your progress.”
The three words “Young Sword Master” caused Yun Che and Xia Yuanba’s brows to twitch.
The young master of the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region… Xuanyuan Wendao!
“Hahahaha.” The young man only gave a great laugh before he replied, “The praise of Senior Ancient Blue causes this junior to feel extremely ashamed. Compared to your disciple Junior Brother Xia, junior’s cultivation is like the weak glow of a firefly against the light of the luminous moon. It’s not even worth mentioning.”
Even though his words were modest and self-deprecating, his tone was still filled with a haughty arrogance. His eyes swept across Yun Che, Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue’er and his smile deepened even further, “Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s Xia Yuanba, Divine Phoenix Sect’s Princess Snow and Frozen Cloud Asgard’s Yun Che. Your names have shaken the Profound Sky Continent and you are publicly acknowledged as the three strongest people of the young generation. This humble Xuanyuan Wendao of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region has long been fascinated by the three of you and I never thought that I would be able to see all of you at the same time today. It has truly been my lucky day.”
Xia Yuanba shuffled forward and he was about to exchange pleasantries with Xuanyuan Wendao, but it was as if Xuanyuan Wendao had not seen his actions. His eyes remained fixed on Feng Xue’er as he said in a self-serving manner, “I have especially heard that Princess Snow not only has startling talent but that her beauty is also capable of bringing about the downfall of countries, possessing the title of the ‘number one beauty in the Profound Sky Continent’. For your heavenly features to be concealed by a mere gauze, for a piece of cloth to hold back such brilliance, it is truly a regrettable thing. Is it possible for you to do me the honor of allowing me to witness the beautiful face of the number one beauty in the Profound Sky Continent?”
When it came to profound strength cultivation, any one of Yun Che’s three companions were far stronger than Xuanyuan Wendao. However, Xuanyuan Wendao was not the least bit respectful towards any of them. Astonishingly, he behaved as if his behavior was merely natural and nothing out of the ordinary.
Because he was Xuanyuan Wentian’s son, the Young Sword Master of the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, the future master of a Sacred Ground!
If he was simply being haughty and proud, it could still be overlooked because of his exalted status. But his attitude and the manner in which he spoke to Feng Xue’er was plainly rude!
And his attitude even seemed to be colored by contempt and provocation.
Spiritual Master Ancient Blue’s brows twitched as he turned to the side but he did not speak. Besides his Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, the other three Sacred Grounds, Supreme Ocean Palace, Sun Moon Divine Hall, and Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, all had their own young masters. Among these three young masters, Xuanyuan Wendao possessed the most shrewdness and was also the hardest to pin down… Just like his father, Xuanyuan Wentian.
However, he was convinced that given Yun Che’s capability, he would be able to easily deal with the provocations of Xuanyuan Wendao.
Xia Yuanba’s brows jumped and it seemed as if his rage had been triggered. If it was any other person who was accompanying him, he would scarcely be bothered to even notice this Xuanyuan Wendao. But since he also seemed to be targeting Yun Che and Feng Xue’er, his rage practically shot through the roof in a mere instant… he did not care if this Xuanyuan Wendao was a Young Sword Master or whatever.
Feng Xue’er replied in a calm and gentle voice, “Xue’er’s visage is fleeting and transient, it would not please you to look upon it. It will greatly disappoint the Young Sword Master.”
“Of course my Xue’er has a face that can bring about the downfall of nations.” Just as Feng Xue’er had stopped speaking, Yun Che had begun to speak in a calm and clear manner. He crossed both hands across his chest and even though he was speaking to Xuanyuan Wendao, Yun Che’s eyes were fixed on the ground as he refused to even look at him, “It’s just that if you really want to take a look, then this humble one only has one word for you.”
“Oh?” Xuanyuan Wendao asked in an intrigued tone, “What advice does Asgard Master Yun have for me?”
Yun Che’s eyes were still fixed to the ground as his mouth curved into a smile that was not a smile. His voice was as cold and clear as water:
“Scram!”
That one word caused the horsetail whisk in Spiritual Master Ancient Blue’s hand to tremble slightly while both Feng Xue’er and Xia Yuanba had nearly jumped in shock. “Hahahaha…” Xuanyuan Wendao was stunned for a moment but he did not grow angry instead he started laughing loudly, “I have long heard that Asgard Master Yun was a person whose arrogance reached the heavens and who feared nothing under them. Even my Mighty Heavenly Sword Region is of no significance to him. Now that I have met you in person, I see that all the rumors were indeed true. No wonder two of the elders of my Mighty Heavenly Sword Region were pathetically flipped upside down by Asgard Master Yun. I even heard that the beloved daughter of our Ninth Elder nearly died at your hands.”
“Heh.” Yun Che gave a cold and low laugh before replying, “Since you know all of this, then why haven’t you taken a hike yet!? There are no guarantees that I won’t bury you right here and now!”
Xuanyuan Wendao’s expression finally underwent a small change.
He could faintly feel that Yun Che’s words were not pure intimidation or bravado, but they truly indicated that there was a possibility that he would kill him right here and now!
Given Yun Che’s power, killing him would be as easy as squashing an ant!
Even though Xuanyuan Wentian had warned him to not come into contact with Yun Che before the Devil Sword Conference began and to not give him any reason to feel suspicious, the moment he saw Yun Che, he could not resist the urge to show off his might and prestige as the Young Sword Master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. Half of it was because he pitied the Yun Che who was about to become their plaything and the other half was so he could look upon the true features of Feng Xue’er, the person who was said to be the “number one beauty in the Profound Sky Continent”.
But Xuanyuan Wendao had forgotten one important thing from all the rumors that described Yun Che, because what all the rumors mentioned about him was that he was “a lunatic who was capable of doing anything”!
Killing the young master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region… This was something that no one would dare to do and it was even something that no one would dare to talk or even think about.
But Yun Che was definitely an exception to this rule!
He was even capable of taking on the entire Divine Phoenix Sect all by himself! For him to suddenly kill the young master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region within Supreme Ocean Palace… He was definitely capable of doing that!
As his heart began to shake with fear and terror, Xuanyuan Wendao’s aura swiftly grew much weaker. His insulting haughtiness had been completely punctured by Yun Che’s words. His face was fixed in a frozen smile as he replied, “Since Asgard Master Yun is not being welcoming towards this humble one, then it’s fine! Farewell!”
It was clear that Xuanyuan Wendao had been terrified, because when he faced Yun Che’s words and his faint killing intent, Xuanyuan Wendao, who was normally not even afraid of the Four Holy Masters, did not even dare to say anything nasty before he left. He was afraid of provoking a “lunatic” like Yun Che who did not follow any of the rules of common sense.
Xuanyuan Wendao had flown a good distance away before he turned around and said in a bland voice, “Asgard Master Yun, I also forgot to congratulate you on making it out of the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest alive. Because it would truly be a pity if you missed this Devil Sword Conference as a result. I believe this Devil Sword Conference will be one of the most unforgettable events of your life.”
Xuanyuan Wendao’s expression instantly turned sinister the moment he turned his face away. He viciously muttered to himself, “This young master has lived for so many years but I have yet to see a fellow as arrogant as he is!”
“Yun Che… This young master originally held some pity in his heart towards you. But since you are actively courting death, this young master will be generous enough to personally bestow upon you the fate you so richly deserve!”
Xuanyuan Wendao pathetically left the scene after that. Xia Yuanba asked Yun Che in a shocked voice, “Brother-in-law, is there some grievance between him and you?”
Spiritual Master Ancient Blue also turned his face towards them.
“…” Yun Che gave a deep sigh before slowly shaking his head, “Let’s make our way to the Sea God Arena first, you will very soon… understand exactly what is going on.”
“Ah!” Xia Yuanba nodded his head before exclaiming, “Brother-in-law, that person is the young master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, a future master of a Sacred Ground. I reckon that Brother-in-law is the only person on this earth who would dare speak to him in such a way… Moreover, I could sense that Brother-in-law truly wanted to take action and kill him just now.”
“Let’s be off.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue said, “From the aura that is radiating from our destination, I can sense that most of the heroes of the realm have already gathered in that place. So even if we arrived now, we would still be rather late.”
The Platform, otherwise knows as the “ Island”. It was named in such a way because it floated in the heart of Supreme Ocean Palace, it was a floating island which was hovered higher than all the other floating islands. This place was normally a testing ground where the disciples of Supreme Ocean Palace would compete against one another but because it had been chosen as the place where the Devil Sword Conference would be held, they had started preparing this place months in advance.
The Sea God Arena was surrounded by tens of thousands of seats. These seats were not truly erected and fixed to the ground, instead they were floating in place. Even though they hovered in the empty air, they were supported by some invisible force, and they were stable and unmoving. In fact, even if a strong profound practitioner wanted to destroy them, they would not find it an easy task.
The closer they drew to the Sea God Arena, the more astonishing the aura that came from those powerhouses became. Whether it was Yun Che, Xia Yuanba or Feng Xue’er… or anyone who had come to participate in the Devil Sword Conference, this was the first time in their lives that they had witnessed so many experts gathered in one place.
“What an alarming atmosphere!” Yun Che exclaimed.
“That’s only natural.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue’s expression was also colored with surprise. Even though he had lived for more than a thousand years, this was also the first time he had witnessed such an astonishing spectacle, “Five hundred Monarchs and six thousand Overlords of the Profound Sky Continent have been gathered for this Devil Sword Conference. This event is so grand that it is completely unprecedented.”
“Ah?” Feng Xue’er let out a startled gasp, “Five hundred Monarchs… six thousand Overlords…”
Yun Che also sucked in a breath of cold air before speaking in a low voice, “So all of the Monarchs and powerful Overlords in the Profound Sky Continent must be gathered in this place.”
Before he had reached the level of Monarch, he had definitely never imagined and would never have believed that there were actually five hundred Monarchs in the Profound Sky Continent, individuals who represented the very peak of power within the land.
“That is right.” Xia Yuanba nodded his head, “Almost all of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s Monarchs and Overlords who are at the sixth level and above have gathered here today. There are only three lower ranking elders who stayed behind to guard our Sacred Ground. The other Sacred Grounds have more or less made the same arrangements. The Divine Phoenix Sect should also have mobilized all of their Monarchs… even Little Sister Xue’er’s great grandfather has come to this place.”
“Great grandfather?” Yun Che’s face was shocked, “Xue’er, is this the person that you told me about before? Senior… Feng Zukui?”
“Mn!” Feng Xue’er lightly nodded her head, “Great Grandfather is normally meditating at a hidden location and he very rarely makes an appearance. So I didn’t think that I’d see even Great Grandfather here this time.”
“Heh heh.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue gave a tepid laugh before speaking, “For profound practitioners who have reached the level of Monarch, the words “secrets of the Divine Profound” is an enticement that none of them can resist… Even if they know that it is extremely likely that it is a lie.”
The Platform was already right before their eyes and they could see thousands of people seated on those floating seats. Even the most unimpressive individual in this group was someone who was able to shake the heavens and the earth if they were among the Seven Nations.
“Little friend Yun, the seats of the Devil Sword Conference are organized according to the powers and groups who are gathered here. You have come here on representing Frozen Cloud Asgard but you have come here by yourself and to sit by yourself would simply be too cold and cheerless. So would you like to sit with our Absolute Monarch Sanctuary?” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue said with a faint laugh.
Yun Che thought about it for a split second before nodding his head appreciatively, “Then this junior gladly accepts your invitation.”
“Xue’er, I’ll be sitting with Yuanba over where the people of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary are seated later. You should return to your royal father’s side for now.” Yun Che turned towards Feng Xue’er as he spoke, his words causing both Xia Yuanba and Spiritual Master Ancient Blue to wear shocked looks on their faces.
“Ah? But I want to be with Big Brother Yun.” Feng Xue’er said in a mystified voice.
“I know.” Yun Che replied with a faint smile, “But you are still a member of the Divine Phoenix Sect after all and you are even the Divine Phoenix Sect’s most important Princess Snow. The Devil Sword Conference has gathered all of the strongest profound practitioners and powers within the Profound Sky Continent. If you are seen sitting with another power by all of these people, it will definitely cause the Divine Phoenix Sect to lose face and the mood of your royal father and all your clansmen will definitely be affected. So…”
Yun Che’s words sounded perfectly reasonable so Feng Xue’er was momentarily left at a loss, but after that she cheerfully smiled and said, “I’ll listen to Big Brother Yun. Big Brother Yun isn’t only good to Xue’er but he also thinks of Xue’er’s sect as well. If Royal Father and the others hear about this, they will definitely be very moved as well.”
The four of them quickly flew to the Sea God Arena. Feng Xue’er detected and followed the Phoenix auras that were radiating from the seats and she very quickly found the Divine Phoenix Sect. She descended to them and sat at Feng Hengkong’s side.
Under the direction of Spiritual Master Ancient Blue, Yun Che was seated among the people of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary. He sat with Xia Yuanba in the very last row.
As expected, the three of them had instantly drawn the attention of all the strong individuals that were gathered there… the one who drew the most attention of all was Yun Che. Under the riveted gazes of all who were present, the entire gathering instantly fell silent.
Chapter 797 - Devil Sword Conference (1)
There were over five hundred people from Absolute Monarch Sanctuary who were seated with him. Yun Che used his spiritual perception to quickly sweep the vicinity and even though he was already prepared for the result, he still felt a jolt of shock shoot through his body. If he did not count Xia Yuanba within these five hundred odd people, there were actually still one hundred and sixty three Monarchs among them!
The other four hundred odd people were all Overlords who were at the seventh level or above!
This was the Absolute Monarch Sanctuary who was not only the head of the Four Sacred Grounds but also had a legacy which had lasted for ten thousand years!!
It would require at least six or seven Guardian Families of the Illusory Demon Realm to combat just one Absolute Monarch Sanctuary.
After Spiritual Master Ancient Blue had taken his seat, the first row was filled with just twelve people!
Every single one of these twelve people were dressed similarly, all of them had white hair and white beards, they all held a horsetail whisk in one hand. All of them exuded extremely robust and mighty auras, especially the three who were seated in the very center of the first row. When Yun Che’s spiritual perception came into contact with the auras of these three people, it felt as if he had been drawn into a boundless ocean, a vast expanse whose limits he could not see.
These three people…
“The twelve people who are seated at the very front are the Twelve Spiritual Masters of our Absolute Monarch Sanctuary.” After Xia Yuanba noticed the direction of Yun Che’s gaze, he bent down and whispered in his ear, “The three people seated in the very center are the ones that I mentioned before. Spiritual Master Bitter Agony, Spiritual Master Nine Lamentations and Spiritual Master Detached Heart. The three other level ten Monarchs that exist within Absolute Monarch Sanctuary other than the Lord Saint Emperor!”
Yun Che faintly nodded his head and said, “Experts who are at this level have profound energy that is as fierce as lightning and as strong as mountains. But it seems like the powerhouses who belong to Absolute Monarch Sanctuary are a different breed from the rest.”
“That is because the core of our Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s profound art is something called the ‘Sacred Heart’. The mightier your profound strength is and the more you comprehend that profound art, the fewer worldly desires and passions you will have.” Xia Yuanba replied before whispering something else, “Actually within Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, I am considered a complete freak as well.”
“Purging your worldly desires and clearing your heart?” At that moment, Yun Che remembered that Absolute Monarch Sanctuary had also ben among the powers that had invaded the Illusory Demon Realm. After which he gave a faint smile, “Perhaps most of their worldly desires and passions may fade but their lust for profound strength was not deadened in the slightest. Otherwise they would not have come out in force to participate in this Devil Sword Conference.”
When he had observed the Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s Twelve Spiritual Masters, a few hundred threads of profound energy that originated from the members of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary had also swept across his body. However, nobody came forward to speak with him and none of the Twelve Spiritual Masters or the elders of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary who were sitting in front turned around to look at him. All of their attention was focused on the Devil Sword Conference that was to be held below them.
“Brother-in-law, there’s something that I don’t understand.” Xia Yuanba whispered to Yun Che, “Why did you ask Little Sister Xue’er to separate from us?”
He naturally did not believe that Yun Che had done all of this for the sake of the Divine Phoenix Sect and their dignity.
Yun Che inhaled deeply before he faintly closed his eyes and sent Xia Yuanba a focused sound transmission, “Xiao Yun has been missing for the last three days.”
“What!” Xia Yuanba was extremely shocked and he nearly jumped to his feet but he maintained his posture and hurriedly sent a sound transmission back, “What exactly happened? Who did it?”
“Given the ability of Xiao Yun, his wife and Number One Under Heaven who was watching over them, there are not many people in the Profound Sky Continent who could steal Xiao Yun away soundlessly and without leaving a trace.”
Xia Yuanba’s brows sunk, “The Four Great Sacred Grounds! Could it be Mighty Heavenly Sword Region!?”
He finally begun to understand why Yun Che had been so hard and cold towards Xuanyuan Wendao.
“In all likelihood.” Yun Che faintly sighed, “When we met Xuanyuan Wentian on the way to the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, the look he had given me and the words he had spoken made me feel like something fishy was going on.”
“Outrageous!” Xia Yuanba balled his fists in rage, the green veins on his forehead standing out, “In the end, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region is still one of the Four Great Sacred Grounds. To think that they would do such thing, eh? No, that’s not right. Why would they even kidnap Xiao Yun in the first place? What reason would they have?”
“It is very likely that my status as a son of the Illusory Demon Realm’s Yun Family has been discovered. So they are also likely aware of Xiao Yun’s status as well. Other than that, there is no other reason I can think of right now.” Yun Che said in a low voice.
These words caused Xia Yuanba to suddenly realize just how serious the current situation had become. It was definitely no ordinary situation right now. He grabbed Yun Che’s shoulders while he whispered in an anxious voice, “Since it’s very likely your identity has been exposed, you can’t stay here any longer! You should know that the Illusory Demon Realm is a place that has been demonized in the Profound Sky Continent. Furthermore, all the heroes of the realm have been gathered here today. If this matter gets exposed publicly, you will be attacked from all sides!”
“I know but I can’t abandon Xiao Yun.”
These words caused Xia Yuanba’s heart to go cold. He immediately understood that as long as this reason remained, there was nothing he could say that would convince Yun Che to leave.
“Yuanba, you don’t need to be too worried.” Yun Che said in a calm manner, “The situation may not be as bad as it looks. I still have the Primordial Profound Ark with me. As long as its existence isn’t exposed as well, I will be able to use it to make complete withdrawal, no matter what happens. So let’s just quietly observe the situation for now.”
“However, if the worst case scenario does happen, you must remember to keep your distance from me Yuanba! Don’t forget, the other three Sacred Grounds are hatefully jealous that Absolute Monarch Sanctuary has gotten their hands on a disciple who possesses the Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins. Even within Absolute Monarch Sanctuary itself, those foster children of the Saint Emperor and their supporters definitely view you as a thorn in their side. If my identity is really exposed to the world and you attempt to protect me, they will be able to label you as a ‘demon’ as well. So at that time, you definitely mustn’t…”
At this time, Yun Che’s brows suddenly furrowed and his eyes instantly went cold. This was because he felt an icy-cold killing intent lock on to his body.
“Yun Che, you little punk! Hand over your life!!”
The sudden thunderous outburst shocked all the powerhouses that were present. A green-robed old man had flown up from the seats that were to the right of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary and he was swooping towards Yun Che like a great eagle.
Furthermore, Yun Che had never seen this person before.
This matter had happened too abruptly. Moreover, no one had expected that someone would dare to cause trouble at the venue the Devil Sword Conference was being held. Given that Absolute Monarch Sanctuary was seated right next to the seats where the interloper had emerged from, the green-robed old man was practically in front of Yun Che seconds after his furious shout had pierced the air. His profound energy turned into a sword as he prepared to deal a fatal blow to Yun Che. Even if other people wanted to stop him, they would not have the opportunity to.
Before Yun Che had even moved, Xia Yuanba had exploded into a flurry of violence. He let out a furious yell as his fist exploded outwards.
Boom!!
A ring of energy pulsed outwards from the point of impact as it tore apart the clouds above. The powers of two Monarchs smashed against one another but the deadlock would not last for long. Xia Yuanba’s face was dark and overcast while alarm had appeared on the face of the green-robed old man. It was as if he could scarcely believe that his power had been so easily blocked by a junior like Xia Yuanba.
“Get lost!!”
Xia Yuanba gave another furious yell as his already thick and muscular arms grew even thicker. The power exploding out from his fist instantly transformed from a windstorm into a hurricane.
Bang!!
The sword beam that the green-robed old man had made out of profound energy was instantly shattered. It was as if his entire body had been smashed by a gigantic hammer as he was thrown backwards tens of meter before he could bring his body to a halt. The green-robed old man’s face had gone white as sheet after he had taken that blow.
Furthermore, Xia Yuanba had only pushed back a little. He advanced with a as the exploding energies that swirled around his body caused countless profound practitioners to hold their breath in amazement. There were also many of them who had gone pale with shock, mirroring the reaction of the green-robed old man.
Even though Yun Che did not recognize this green-robed old man, his name was known throughout the Four Great Sacred Grounds.
This was an elder of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region! Furthermore, he was ranked within the top ten elders of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region!
His profound strength cultivation was at the seventh level of the Sovereign Profound Realm!
Yet he had been blown away by a single punch from Xia Yuanba, ceding the advantage to him!
Countless deeply shocked gazes landed on Xia Yuanba’s body as more than a few people sucked in a cold breath of air. Only the strongest of the strong within the Profound Sky Continent had the privilege to enter the Sea God Arena. So everyone here had naturally heard the news that a disciple who possessed the Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins had appeared in Absolute Monarch Sanctuary. Furthermore, that disciple had become a Monarch when he was barely twenty years of age.
However all of this was just hearsay and many people were witnessing the reality of Xia Yuanba for the first time.
What just became a Monarch!? He was able to force a level seven Monarch back with a blow of his fist, so his strength was clearly at the latter stages of the Sovereign Profound Realm!
Even within the Four Great Sacred Grounds, that was the domain of the absolute strongest!
He was already so terrifying at a tender age of twenty, so no one was able to imagine what kind of monster he would be one hundred years later! Among the disciples of similar age in the other three Sacred Grounds, they would not be able to find a single person who was fit to even carry his shoes, much less be compared to him!
All the twelve Spiritual Masters of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary turned their heads and silently nodded. Their expressions were devoid of shock and only faint smiles and a vivid appreciation and admiration could be seen on their faces. They were all pleased that Xia Yuanba’s profound strength had improved by leaps and bounds once again within this short period of time.
Spiritual Master Ancient Blue slowly stood up and spoke in a calm and unhurried manner, “Xuanyuan Jue, as an elder of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, what reason would provoke you to suddenly raise your hand against a junior?”
The name Xuanyuan Jue caused Yun Che’s brows to twitch: It was him after all!
The Ninth Elder of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, Xuanyuan Jue! Xuanyuan Yufeng’s father, Ling Yun and Ling Jie’s grandfather!
“Hmph!” After being beaten back by Xia Yuanba’s fist, the shock in Xuanyuan Jue’s heart had long ago exceeded his rage but if he retreated just like this, he would definitely lose all of his dignity. He stared at Yun Che before roaring in rage, “This little punk Yun Che not only harmed two elders of our Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, he even made a move to kill my beloved daughter before. If I don’t rip him to pieces today, how can I still call myself a father!?”
Yun Che still remained seated while a cold smile spread across his face, “Xuanyuan Yufeng’s heart was venomous and wicked while her methods were sinister and despicable! If not for the fact that she was Ling Jie’s mother, even killing her ten times over would not allow me to fully vent my hatred towards her! In the end, I spared her life but if you’re not grateful to me, that’s fine. But to think that you actually had the face to bark wildly in front of me right now!”
“You’re looking for death, you young punk!” Yun Che’s words had undoubtedly added fuel to the fire, causing Xuanyuan Jue to become even more enraged.
“I would request that the two gentlemen here let their anger subside.”
A calm and languid voice rang out from where Supreme Ocean Palace was seated. Zi Ji slowly stood to face him, a bland smile on his face, “The grievances that the two of you have against each other isn’t something that an outsider should get involved in. All the heroes of the realm have gathered here today for one thing and one thing alone. And that is the Devil Sword Conference. So this matter brooks no further delay. Furthermore, even if it was not for the sake of the Devil Sword Conference but as all of you are honored guests of Supreme Ocean Palace, we are naturally unwilling to see a single one of our honoured guests encounter any distress. So I would have to request that two of you show this old man some face. Even though you have a great grievance against each other, I would request that you settle it after the both of you have left Supreme Ocean Palace.”
After being blown away by Xia Yuanba’s fist, Xuanyuan Jue’s dignity had already gone down the drain. It was hard to get off the back of a tiger but Zi Ji’s words had undoubtedly given him a pretext to back down gracefully. Xuanyuan Jue flung out the sleeve of his robe as he gave a furious snort, “Fine! For the sake of Zi Ji, I will let this young punk live for a few more days. Yun Che, you young punk! I heard that your master is the Old Man Duotian who should have returned to the dust many ages ago and that he has the ability to traverse the heavens and divide the earth… hahahaha. Even if it was the Heavenly King himself, I wouldn’t be afraid of him, much less some Old Man Duotian! But I do want to see just how he will keep you safe from me once the time comes!”
Yun Che, “…”
“Ridiculous!” Xia Yuanba said in a contemptuous voice, “If you want to touch a hair on my Brother-in-law’s head, you’ll have to get past me first! It’s too bad that you can’t even beat a junior like me. To think that your sense of shame would be so lacking that you would even dare to challenge my Brother-in-law’s master! Aren’t you afraid that you’ll become the laughing stock of the entire profound world!?”
“You!” Xuanyuan Jue stared at Xia Yuanba as he nearly spat a mouthful of blood out.
“Yuanba, do not be disrespectful.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue chided him in a placid voice.
Chapter 798 - Devil Sword Conference (2)
Xuanyuan Wendao took to the skies and arrived at Xuanyuan Jue’s side, “Ninth Elder, this isn’t the time to settle your personal grievances. Let’s speak of this again once the Devil Sword Conference has ended.”
He cupped his hands towards where Absolute Monarch Sanctuary was seated before saying, “The Ninth Elder loves his daughter with all of his heart. So in a fit of passion, he disturbed everyone from Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, I beg for your forgiveness on his behalf… Ninth Elder, let’s return to our seats.”
He gave Yun Che a bland look before pulling Xuanyuan Jue back towards where Mighty Heavenly Sword Region was seated.
“Ninth Elder, you are being too rash! Father already gave strict orders that no one is allowed to make trouble with Yun Che before the Devil Sword Conference begins!” Xuanyuan Wendao said in his sound transmission to Xuanyuan Jue.
“Hmph! I simply can’t understand this! Our Sword Master has clearly already uncovered all of his secrets so why are we still acting so skittishly!?” Xuanyuan Jue shot back, his rage coming to full boil.
“Father is not scared of Yun Che, but there is a very important reason for our current actions and orders. If you had really killed Yun Che, that would have wrecked Father’s grand plan! At that time…” Xuanyuan Wendao gave Xuanyuan Jue a bland look, his eyes filled with warning.
Xuanyuan Jue fought back a faint shiver that ran through his body.
“That old villain! Despite being an elder of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, he still dared to publicly attack Brother-in-law in this place!” Xia Yuanba said in a hot-tempered voice.
“Don’t bother with him. On the contrary, these are the kind of people that you don’t need to be afraid of.” Yun Che’s brows sank as he thought about the worst case scenario and simulated plans that would allow him to respond.
Because of the previous matter, the Sea God Arena was no longer calm and quiet. Instead, it began to buzz with the sound of conversation. Yun Che could guess what these people were talking about even if he could not hear them: Topics like Xia Yuanba, the grievance that Mighty Heavenly Sword Region had with him and why Xuanyuan Jue astonishingly seemed to be completely unafraid of his rumored “master”.
The air suddenly grew cold as a sharp aura that was so cold that it seemed to come from the very depths of the netherworld suddenly pervaded the air. This caused all conversation to grind to a sudden halt, as if all words had been frozen.
Yun Che suddenly raised his and head and looked in the direction of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. Three pitch-black figures appeared from the sky out of nowhere like ghosts.
All three people were dressed in black, their expressions were as stiff as corpses. Their brows were as long and thin as swords and every line on their faces was so stiff that it looked like they had been carved with a blade.
Yun Che was five hundred meters distant from them but he could not feel any energy radiating from them and he could not see any vigor or life in their eyes either. Yun Che closed his eyes and he actually could not even recall the appearances of these three people. Furthermore, based on his spiritual perception alone, he was completely unable to sense that there were three people floating in space. The only thing he could sense were three keen swords with unrivalled sharpness!
“What dreadful sword intent!” Yun Che muttered to himself.
The entire atmosphere of the Sea God Arena had instantly frozen due to the arrival of these three people. Even the expressions of the gathered elders of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary had faintly changed at the arrival of these three people.
“Sword Attendant Heartless, Sword Attendant Merciless, Sword Attendant Emotionless. The most terrifying existence in Mighty Heavenly Sword Region! The Three Sword Attendants!” Xia Yuanba said with furrowed brows. Even though there was still quite a distance between them, he still felt as if three sharp swords were pressed against his throat. His body had completely tensed up unconsciously and even his breathing had become uneven, “Even though this is the first time I have seen them, no one else besides these three dreadful sword attendants could produce such extreme sword intent.”
Yun Che’s brows knit together… Even though the aggregate strength of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region was the least of the Four Sacred Grounds, they had the most level ten Monarchs. They had four people at this level, drawing even with Absolute Monarch Sanctuary.
Besides Sword Master Xuanyuan Wentian, the other three level ten Monarchs were the “Three Sword Attendants” that Xia Yuanba had told him about a few days ago!
They were a terrifying existence whose might was second only to the Four Sacred Masters!!
“I heard from Master that these three people had purged all their worldly passions and desires from a very young age. They bent their hearts solely towards mastering the sword and their cultivation in the way of the sword has reached the highest peaks, a supreme realm of mastery where there is nothing that they cannot do. Even blades of grass and flying flowers are swords to them. With a thought, they can summon countless blades of sword energy. They are able to kill someone without leaving a single trace. It was said that if all three of them joined forces, they would be able to rival a leader of a Sacred Ground!”
Xia Yuanba’s voice was low and deep. When he had brought up the Three Sword Attendants earlier, it had only been a cursory introduction. But right now, after learning about Yun Che’s situation, his heart felt incredibly heavy when he introduced these three people yet again, .
The three men floated down from the sky and they sat down at the front of where Mighty Heavenly Sword Region was being seated. As the Young Sword Master, Xuanyuan Wendao got up from his seat at the fastest speed possible to greet them, his attitude respectful and reverential.
From this act alone, one could see just how exalted their status were in Mighty Heavenly Sword Region.
Yun Che’s gaze swept across the venue before his eyes landed on where Supreme Ocean Palace was being seated. The most eye-catching sight was those seven old people who sat at the very front. They were all sitting side by side and they were dressed in the exact same clothes, but each of their outfits were of a different color.
The gathered elders of Supreme Ocean Palace were garbed in light blue, but these seven people were dressed in red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue and purple! The way they were dressed seemed to represent all the colors of the rainbow!
Xia Yuanba followed Yun Che’s gaze before speaking, “Those seven people are the Seven Venerable Ones of Supreme Ocean Palace! Venerable Purple and Venerable Blue who are seated in the middle are both level ten Monarchs who are able to rival the Three Sword Attendants!”
Yun Che’s gaze went from the Seven Venerable Ones of Supreme Ocean Palace to Zi Ji.
Zi Ji’s seat was astonishingly in front of even the Seven Venerable Ones!
It was as if Zi Ji had felt Yun Che’s gaze because he turned to look at him at the same time. He gave a small nod of his head and a faint smile.
To the right of Supreme Ocean Palace was the area Sun Moon Divine Hall was being seated. All of the people seated there wore clothes that were emblazoned with a sun and a moon. The five people who were seated in the very front looked ancient but the sun and moon emblazoned on their clothes glowed with a luminosity that almost seemed real. These five ancients sat together and the aura they released was dense and primal. It was as if their auras had mingled to create an independent and small world, one which others would have no hope of stepping into.
“Those five people are Sun Moon Divine Hall’s Sun Moon Divine Envoys! They are Divine Envoy Heavens Equal, Divine Envoy Blazing Sun, Divine Envoy Moon Punisher, Divine Envoy Star Banisher and Divine Envoy Earth Turner respectively. Among these five, Divine Envoy Heavens Equal and Divine Envoy Blazing Sun are both level ten Monarchs. Divine Envoy Heavens Equal is especially strong, he is the mightiest of the Five Divine Envoys. His title ‘Heavens Equal’ basically indicates that he is of equal status and position as the Heavenly Monarch Ye Meixie. The other three Divine Envoys are all level nine Monarchs!”
Xia Yuanba explained to Yun Che.
Divine Envoys? So they chose to use the name of the gods in their titles?
Yun Che gave a quiet and cold chuckle before shooting a glance towards Ye Xinghan who sat behind the five Sun Moon Divine Envoys.
The young divine hall master of Sun Moon Divine Hall would definitely not be absent from this Devil Sword Conference. Furthermore, he stared straight at Yun Che as well, his gaze full of venom and hate. When his eyes met with Yun Che’s eyes, his pupils immediately contracted and he quickly averted his gaze but the muscles on his face continued to twitch and writhe.
Besides the Four Great Sacred Grounds, all the other powers from the Profound Sky Continent that were gathered here were all sitting ramrod straight, none of them moving a single muscle. Their expressions were nervous and tense, their breathing was moderate and shallow and even their whispering was done in the most cautious and discreet manners. All of these powers were naturally aware that the Four Great Sacred Grounds were the paramount existences within the Profound Sky Continent, but they had definitely never imagined that the true power of the Sacred Grounds was actually this terrible.
Monarchs, the legends that existed in their hearts and minds, an existence that they might encounter once every thousand years. Hundreds of them had appeared in this place! It was an event that was so shocking that it was highly plausible that they would remain dazed for many days.
The entire Sea God Arena was shrouded in a gigantic curtain of light. Even Yun Che’s eyes were unable to penetrate that veil of light and see what lay within. But anyone would be able to guess that the eponymous devil sword of this Devil Sword Conference lay behind this curtain of light.
Time was flowing slowly but at this moment, the light in the sky suddenly dimmed by a fraction.
This small decrease in brightness was something that a normal person would definitely not be able to detect. But all those who were seated here were the most powerful individuals in the Profound Sky Continent. Their spiritual perceptions were all extremely keen and many of them had raised their heads to the sky the moment the light had dimmed.
“Brother-in-law, quickly look!” Xia Yuanba said as he raised his head to the sky.
The blazing sun hung in the east but it slowly crept towards the center. However, an extremely short and slim black scar had appeared at the border of the eastern sky!
“The fabled Thirteen Star Alignment… Is it really going to appear now?” Xia Yuanba muttered to himself. At the same time, the entire Sea God Arena began rumbling with noise.
In the eastern part of the Sea God Arena, a beam of sword energy pierced the heavens. It was as if a blazing meteor had descended from the sky, the light it gave off was so piercing that everyone was blinded for a moment. Under that light, a green figure slowly appeared within the space that had been slashed open by that sword beam. He was all dressed in green and his sword might was boundless. Once he appeared, it was as if an emperor was arriving in all of his pomp and glory, causing the hearts and souls of all who were gathered to tremble with fear.
Following the arrival of this person, every single member of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, from the lowest disciple to the mightiest sword attendant, rose from their seats and bowed in greeting:
“The absolute sword of heaven’s might is peerless and unmatched in this world! We welcome the Sword Master!”
The Sword Master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region—Xuanyuan Wentian!
“Hahahaha!”
Wild laughter rang out from the western section of the Sea God Arena which was directly opposite Xuanyuan Wentian. Amidst this wild laughter, the empty air above that area suddenly shone with a glaring profound light, it was as if a burning sun was being born. On the other side, a luminous waning moon also appeared floating in the air. One sun and one moon instantly suppressed all the light in this area and even the real sun that hung in the eastern sky seemed dimmer under the light of this sun and moon.
A tall and upright figure slowly walked out between the light that was emitted from this sun and moon. He was garbed in white and his eyes twinkled like cold stars as a mighty aura that rivalled Xuanyuan Wentian’s descended from above. This caused all of the profound practitioners who were sitting in the western section of the Sea God Arena to shiver fiercely as they could barely resist the urge to kneel on the floor and prostrate themselves in worship.
“Of the blazing sun and punishing moon, the Heavenly Monarch equals the heavens! We greet the Heavenly Monarch!”
This time, all of the profound practitioners of Sun Moon Divine Hall had gotten to their feet before they kneeled down in obeisance.
“The Holy Master of Sun Moon Divine Hall, the one who possesses the title of ‘Heavenly Monarch’, Ye Meixie!?” Yun Che muttered to himself. Ye Meixie appeared to be a middle-aged man, he looked far younger than Yun Che had expected.
In the southern part of the Sea God Arena, a faint yellow light descended from the skies right in front of where Absolute Monarch Sanctuary was seated. Within that yellow light, a frail and thin figure dressed in white clothes appeared.
The moment that weak and frail figure appeared, all of the spiritual masters, elders and disciples of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary… Xia Yuanba included, all swiftly stood to their feet as they clasped their hands and shouted a greeting:
“Absolute Monarch Saint Emperor, ruler of the myriad boundaries! We welcome the Saint Emperor!”
More than one hundred Monarchs and four hundred Sovereigns shouted that greeting at the same time, the profound energy that shook the air was mighty indeed. Yun Che was extremely close by and he was still heavily injured, so he did not react in time to shield himself. He was so shaken by the profound energy that his chest felt heavy and his vision swam, his wounds nearly opening up again due to the impact.
The frail and thin man slowly turned around as he gave an extremely calm and placid smile to the gathered members of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary and made a gesture for them to return to their seats. The moment he turned around, Yun Che clearly saw his features as well and his heart was filled with shock and astonishment.
Huangji Wuyu, the Saint Emperor of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, the leader of the Four Sacred Grounds! The man who was publically acknowledged as the most powerful person in the Profound Sky Continent! As one of the supreme powers whose existence was legendary, everyone thought that he would definitely possess a matchless and majestic figure and that his aura would shake the heavens.
But what appeared in Yun Che’s eyes was a frail and thin young man… who did not look to be more than sixteen years of age!
But his gaze was that of an ancient man, his eyes looked like they had seen the rise and fall of a hundred ages.
Xuanyuan Wentian’s aura was incomparably sharp, it was as if ten thousand swords had descended from the sky. Ye Meixie’s aura was boundless and majestic and it seemed as if it could collapse the sky. Huangji Wuyu, on the other hand, projected an aura that was not tyrannical in the slightest, there was no attacking intent in it… Actually, Yun Che could not even sense the presence of any profound energy from his body. It was as if he was mere commoner who did not even practice the profound way.
Huangji Wuyu’s gaze touched Yun Che and it lingered there for a second. After that, he turned towards the Sea God Arena and quietly stared at the curtain of light that shrouded it.
In the west, a gentle aura that surged with hidden power descended from the sky, enveloping the hearts and souls of everyone present. At that moment, the picture of a vast and boundless ocean appeared in everyone’s hearts. This ocean was raging and frothing as huge waves soared to the heavens.
Before a figure had even appeared, the entire Supreme Ocean Palace had all risen to their feet in greeting:
“The supreme Sovereign of the Seas, she who has no limits!”
Supreme Ocean Palace—Sovereign of the Seas Qu Fengyi had arrived! She was still garbed in those blue skirts that Yun Che had seen her wearing but her expression was dignified and her aura was incomparably noble and grand.
In the east: Mighty Heavenly Sword Region—Sword Master Xuanyuan Wentian.
In the west: Sun Moon Divine Hall—Heavenly Monarch Ye Meixie.
In the south: Absolute Monarch Sanctuary—Saint Emperor Huangji Wuyu.
In the north: Supreme Ocean Palace—Sovereign of the Seas Qu Fengyi.
The masters of the Profound Sky’s Four Great Sacred Grounds, the current four true rulers of the Profound Sky Continent were all gathered in this Sea God Arena!
Chapter 799 - Devil Sword Conference (3)
The Sea God Arena had fallen completely silent. The Four Sacred Masters were gathered in one place. Their power and prestige enough to cover the earth and the sky, and it was enough to intimidate the entire continent.
Sovereign of the Seas Qu Fengyi raised her head to the sky as she looked at the sun, which was slowly being marked with a black scar, before speaking in a solemn voice, “The Thirteen Star Alignment is about to occur. All our preparations of the past few months have been for this moment alone. The heroes of the realm have also gathered at my Supreme Ocean Palace just for the sake of gazing upon this devil sword and attempting to uncover its secrets together. If the secret of the devil sword can truly be unveiled as per our wishes and desires, then it will definitely be a grand occasion for our Profound Sky Continent.”
Sovereign of the Seas Qu Fengyi looked at Huangji Wuyu. “Even though this event is being held by Supreme Ocean Palace, the Devil Sword Conference is not something that belongs to us alone. It is an event for the entire profound world of the Profound Sky Continent. Brother Huangji, you have the most seniority between the four of us, and your voice also carries the most weight. Therefore, you are the person most suitable to preside over this Devil Sword Conference.”
“Heheh.” Huangji Wuyu gave a tepid laugh. “The devil sword was obtained by Sword Master Xuanyuan, so it is natural that his knowledge of it would be the deepest. We should let Sword Master Xuanyuan host this event. He would naturally be even more suited to the task than I.”
“Alright then!” Xuanyuan Wentian gave a great laugh as he wholeheartedly accepted that suggestion. “Since this is the case, I, Xuanyuan Wentian, will gladly comply.”
As his voice faded, Xuanyuan Wentian raised his right palm and a pale white sword beam discharged from the center of his palm and shot toward the sky.
In an instant, that sword beam had already grown more than three hundred meters long, transforming into a three hundred and thirty meter long profound sword in Xuanyuan Wentian’s hand. After that, he shouted as he slashed down at the Sea God Arena below him.
Clang!!
The gigantic curtain of light that shrouded the Sea God Arena was split open by a single slash from that profound sword. Light shattered as ice would shatter, becoming countless fragments that scattered all over the place. They disappeared into thin air in the blink of an eye, revealing the Sea God Arena that had been hidden from view.
Everyone’s eyes turned toward the Sea God Arena. Following the disappearance of that curtain of light, the Sea God Arena was completely revealed.
The Sea God Arena was several kilometers wide, and at this moment, everyone was astonished to find a gigantic circular profound formation imprinted on it. The profound light that this profound formation radiated was not intense. It glowed brilliantly at times, and grew dark at others. The rate at which the light alternated was exceptionally slow. The borders of the profound formation stretched to the edges of the Sea God Arena, practically covering every inch of it.
The center of the profound formation was also the center of the Sea God Arena. A pitch black sword was there, gently floating in midair. The body of the sword was as black as ink. It was roughly six and a half feet long and one foot wide. It had a square hilt, and the half of the blade near the hilt had two irregular markings that ran down its length. If one looked closely, they would see that the markings were a crescent blood moon that had been cut in half!
Aside from all of these things, the sword did not emit an aura, nor did any power or light radiate from it. Instead, everyone felt as if it were completely lifeless.
“So that is… the legendary Heavenly Sin Divine Sword?” Xia Yuanba could not help but exclaim aloud before continuing in a soft voice, “It doesn’t seem very extraordinary to me.”
Yun Che’s gaze was completely fixed on the sword. His eyes roamed across the body of the sword before finally coming to rest where the sigil of the blood colored broken moon was.
The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had said that the true name of this sword was the “Moon Slaughter Devil Sword”!
Furthermore, this blood colored broken moon sigil also fit the name of “Moon Slaughter”… there was no mistaking it!
The public may know of this sword as the “Heavenly Sin Divine Sword,” but only Yun Che knew that this was a completely authentic ancient devil sword!
He just did not know if the devil soul that had been stored in the blade still existed!
The devil soul of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s son!
“What is that profound formation below it?” Yun Che asked in a low voice.
“Its function should be to gather profound energy,” Xia Yuanba replied. “This profound formation was already being prepared half a year ago. During these last six months, Lord Saint Emperor spent most of his time at Supreme Ocean Palace specifically for the sake of setting up this profound formation. It should have been the same with the other Sacred Masters as well.”
Yun Che, “…”
Yun Che’s brows furrowed slightly, and he let out a long sigh. According to the memories that Jasmine had retrieved from Fen Juechen, the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword had been sealed away by the Eternal Night Royal Family for generations. The entire clan had considered it a forbidden object, and no one was allowed to get close enough to touch it. Furthermore, they periodically would strengthen the seal.
Breaking the seal on the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword was the goal of this Devil Sword Conference.
Furthermore, if it weren’t for the seal that had been made by the Eternal Night Royal Family, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region would not have been baffled for over a thousand years. In the end, they had no choice but to organize this Devil Sword Conference and borrow the power of all the mighty individuals in the land.
Could it be that the Evil God’s seal still lingered on the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword?
No, that could not be the case! Even though the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s vitality and soul had been completely shattered, he was obviously still able to escape the Evil God’s seal. Furthermore, since the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword was the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign’s sword, it would naturally be on his person and be one with his body. If the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign could escape that seal, then there would be no reason for the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword to still be affected by said seal.
Yun Che pondered this conundrum for a while before a thought suddenly sprang into his head. The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign had said that the Moon Slaughter Devil Sword, which was also the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword, had been personally tossed into the Profound Sky Continent by him because he wanted to use it to gather information about the outside world. However, the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword independently severed the spiritual connection it had with the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign after he threw it out…
Furthermore, once a sword completely submitted to its master, it would be impossible for the sword to take the initiative to sever the spiritual connection it had with its master!
This means that the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword was still an independent existence at that time, and the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign was not its true master!
Or could it be that the Evil God’s seal, which had lasted for a million years, had destroyed the spiritual contract that had been established between the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign and his sword?
“This sword is, indeed, a devil sword, and it is also known as the ‘Heavenly Sin Divine Sword’!” Xuanyuan Wentian proclaimed in a clear, loud voice.
“Furthermore, the name ‘Heavenly Sin Divine Sword’ came from the Eternal Night Royal Family that was destroyed a thousand years ago.”
The faces of everyone present were filled with shock and astonishment. Especially among the Four Sacred Grounds, the name “Eternal Night Royal Family” had always been taboo. The main culprit behind the destruction of the Eternal Night Royal Family was Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, so no one would have ever thought that Xuanyuan Wentian would voluntarily bring up the Eternal Night Royal Family.
“This matter occurred a thousand years ago, so it is natural that very few people know of the ‘Eternal Night Royal Family’. However, all of you who are gathered here today are also the overlords of the Profound Sky Continent, so I’m sure that you have heard of it before.”
Those who knew of the Eternal Night Royal Family would roughly know the truth behind its destruction. Yet Xuanyuan Wentian’s voice still rang out as clear as a heavenly bell despite the scrutiny of the entire audience. His expression did not change. It was as if he were talking about a name that was not relevant to him at all. “The Eternal Night Royal Family was initially only a mediocre power, but they swiftly rose to the top after they obtaining this sword ten thousand years ago. In a short thousand years, they had were able to lord over the Profound Sky Continent and be considered equal to the Four Great Sacred Grounds. At that time, the whole world knew that the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword must have been hiding some world-shaking secret.
“The Eternal Night Royal Family’s profound art was known as the ‘Eternal Night Illusory God Record’, and when they circulated their profound energy, it was pitch black. It was a baleful, malevolent energy that was extremely similar to the powers possessed by devils and fiends of legend. In the end, however, a profound art is still a profound art. Whether or not a profound art is righteous or demonic is not dependent on the profound art, but the person using the profound art. This was why no one ever questioned whether or not the Eternal Night Royal Family had fallen to a demonic path and become degenerate. However, a thousand years ago, the Eternal Night Royal Family kept committing grievous sins that could not be forgiven or tolerated by heaven and earth. Since the Sacred Grounds were responsible for protecting the Profound Sky Continent through the generations, we had no choice but to join hands to destroy the Eternal Night Royal Family forever.”
Who was the true evil, who was the one who had fallen to a demonic path, and who had committed crimes that were unforgivable to heaven and earth? These were facts that the other three Sacred Grounds knew well. There were even many people outside of the Sacred Grounds who were also aware of the truth. Yet Xuanyuan Wentian was able to skillfully continue without skipping a beat without a shred of guilt showing on his face. On the contrary, his face was filled with a fervent righteousness.
Yun Che stared at Xuanyuan Wentian’s face, but he did not find it comical or despicable. Instead, he felt a cold chill seize his heart.
This was an extremely terrifying man… one more terrifying than any person he had ever met.
“At that time, the Eternal Night King was known as Ye Mufeng. Even though he possessed considerable profound strength, he was still weaker than any one of the Four Sacred Masters. However, when he brought out the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword in the end, his strength actually erupted and no one could face him. In the end, it took the combined power of the Four Sacred Masters and nineteen of the strongest elders from the Sacred Grounds to narrowly defeat him. Even then, we had to pay a terrible price. All Four Sacred Masters were heavily wounded, while ten of the nineteen elders were dead with the remaining injured as well.
The words uttered by Xuanyuan Wentian caused shock and alarm to appear on the faces of a majority of the audience. All of the people present were familiar with the name “Eternal Night Royal Family”, and all of them knew that this clan had been destroyed by the combined might of the Four Great Sacred Grounds. Yet no one but the Four Great Sacred Grounds knew the details concerning the demise of the Eternal Night King.
They had also never dreamed that the Eternal Night King had become that strong all those years ago. To think that the Four Sacred Masters who lorded over the realm and nineteen of the most powerful elders from the Sacred Grounds had just barely defeated him!
The Four Sacred Masters had reached the very peak of the tenth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm. It could be said that, within the Sovereign Profound Realm, none were their equal!
To think that the Eternal Night King of a thousand years ago was that terrifying. Could it be that… he had reached the legendary Divine Profound Realm?
Yun Che’s brows furrowed as he coldly absorbed Xuanyuan Wentian’s words. At this moment, he felt a cold, bone-piercing, and yet strangely familiar killing intent wash over him. Although the other party was trying its best to conceal it, Yun Che was extremely sensitive to killing intent, so it was not able to escape his spiritual perception.
Yun Che’s gaze swept across the Sea God Arena as he attempted to locate the origin of that killing intent as quickly as possible. His eyes eventually settled on a familiar figure.
It was Fen Juechen!!
Fen Juechen was dressed in a set of black clothes, quietly sitting in an inconspicuous corner at the very edge of the venue. His expression was cold and gloomy, and his gaze alone would cause one’s heart to throb.
“Fen Juechen… so he came after all!” Yun Che muttered to himself. Before this, all of his attention had been focused on the Four Great Sacred Grounds and how to deal with the approaching crisis. This, coupled with the fact that Fen Juechen had clearly suppressed his own presence, made Yun Che completely fail to notice him until now.
Fen Juechen’s goal in coming to this place was obviously the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword. The only problem was, Yun Che could not figure out what actions he would take to get it. Even though Fen Juechen now possessed great power, in comparison to four major powers who had flourished for ten thousand years, his personal strength was merely a drop of water in the ocean.
On the other hand, Yun Che was even more curious about one thing. Why would Mighty Heavenly Sword Region specifically invite Fen Juechen to participate in this Devil Sword Conference? Was it merely because his strength had fit the criteria that allowed him to participate?
Feng Juechen’s senses were also extremely sharp. When Yun Che looked in his direction, his gaze shot back at him almost immediately. A pair of eyes that looked like they belonged on a vicious wolf stared at Yun Che as a bone-piercing hatred swifty took shape within them.
Yun Che’s brows twitched as he stared at Fen Juechen’s eyes, shock blooming in his heart.
He could feel the hatred that Fen Juechen held toward him… It was exactly the same as every other occasion they had clashed and had not diminished in the slightest. This time, however there was only hatred… yet no killing intent!?
What was going on? Yun Che’s heart was filled with doubt and suspicion… Fen Juechen’s desire to kill him had always been extremely strong. His desire to kill Yun Che was one of the reasons for his current pain-filled existence. Furthermore, he had never concealed his killing intent in front of him…
But this time there was only hatred and no killing intent!?
What’s going on… Or is there some mistake with my perception?
While Yun Che was shocked and confused, Feng Juechen withdrew his icy cold gaze. His gaze grew hard as he fixed his eyes upon the pitch black sword that floated in the middle of the Sea God Arena. He did not look at Xuanyuan Wentian, nor did he look at any of the other Sacred Masters… because he was afraid that he would not be able to prevent his extreme hatred and killing intent from leaking out.
Xuanyuan Wentian continued to speak. “After he took out the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword, the Eternal Night King’s strength was extraordinary and completely surpassed the boundaries of the Sovereign Profound Realm. Furthermore, even though his physical body had been destroyed in the struggle, and he had been defeated in combat, his soul refused to die. According to the legends, being able to exist as a soul after one’s body has perished is an ability that is gained when one enters the Divine Profound Realm. It is definitely not something one can achieve with the power of a Monarch.
“So it stands to reason that the strength displayed by Eternal Night King Ye Mufeng after taking out the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword was definitely a strength that surpassed the boundaries of the Sovereign Profound Realm and stepped into the legendary Divine Profound Realm!”
The Sea God Arena immediately started to buzz with noise as the face of every person present was filled with astonishment and expectation—Battling the Four Sacred Masters and nineteen other elders from the Four Sacred Grounds alone, and being able to endure as a soul after his body perished… these things clearly proved that the Eternal Night King’s strength had definitely transcended the Sovereign Profound Realm!
Furthermore, all of this information had been conveyed to them by the Sword Master of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region Xuanyuan Wentian while the three other Sacred Masters looked on. How could it possibly be false!
It seemed as though the “secrets of the Divine Profound” were not just empty words and false promises!
“The rise of the Eternal Night Royal Family occurred because they obtained the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword. The enormous change in Ye Mufeng also happened after he took out the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword. Therefore, it was clear that all of these secrets were contained within the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword.
“After we had punished Ye Mufeng one thousand years ago, we greedily lusted after the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword, hoping to decipher the secret behind Ye Mufeng’s sudden increase in strength. However, the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword was lost in that vicious battle and went missing for the past thousand years. Fortunately, my Mighty Heavenly Sword Region managed to inadvertently stumble upon it in a remote wasteland one year ago…”
“This Xuanyuan Wentian is clearly full of bullshit, yet he acts so calm and composed as if his conscience were clear! His skin is unbelievably thick!” Xia Yuanba growled through gritted teeth. “My master had told me they had long suspected that the missing Heavenly Sin Divine Sword had fallen into the hands of Mighty Heavenly Sword Region a thousand years ago. All those years ago, Xuanyuan Wentian used despicably evil methods to destroy the Eternal Night Royal Family and obtain the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword!”
“Let’s continue listening to his speech. He planned carefully and methodically for today’s performance,” Yun Che said in a low voice. A profound shrewdness, terrifying cunning… despicably evil methods… a profound strength and an organization that stood at the very summit of power… Yun Che was beginning to feel an increasingly heavy pressure emanate from Xuanyuan Wentian.
The sky slowly grew darker. Yun Che raised his head and saw that the black scar in the sky nearly covered a tenth of the scorching sun.
Chapter 800 - Devil Sword Conference (4)
“After we obtained the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword by chance, my Mighty Heavenly Sword Region had selfish thoughts and we desired to keep the secrets of the devil sword for ourselves. However, the sword was covered by a strong and peerless seal, even the full might of my Mighty Heavenly Sword Region was unable to do anything to it. It was as if the very heavens themselves had willed that the secrets of the devil sword were not for one person to monopolize. Instead, it was to be shared with the heroes of the realm, to the benefit of the profound way of our Profound Sky Continent!”
“Hahahaha, Sword Master Xuanyuan has truly spoken well.” Heavenly Monarch Ye Meixie interjected with a great laugh, “If this devil sword truly contains the mysteries of the Divine Profound and we manage to uncover it, then all the invited heroes of the realm will benefit greatly from it. Our Profound Sky Continent’s profound way will also break through to another realm, attaining the transcendence that even our forefathers could not reach. When that time comes, the people of the Profound Sky Continent will no longer have to worry about the demons of the Illusory Demon Realm staring at them with greedy eyes. So if this truly comes to pass, it will be a grand event that will be spoken of for ten thousand years. It will be an event that will be etched in the history and consciousness of our entire continent, not merely confined to those of us who pursue the way of the profound.”
The demons of the Illusory Demon Realms were the ones who were staring at you with covetous eyes, huh? Yun Che’s eyes sank as a cold and disdainful smile appeared on his face.
If he had never been to the Illusory Demon Realm, he would have firmly believed like the rest of the Profound Sky Continent that the Four Great Sacred Grounds had always been defending the continent from the predations of the Illusory Demon Realm, and he would have no doubt that they deserved the mantle of “Sacred Ground”.
But the truth that he had witnessed and heard about in the Illusory Demon Continent had been the complete opposite of what he heard his entire life!
Sovereign of the Seas Qu Fengyi’s expression remained as cold and remote as calm water, nary a ripple of emotion showing on her face. Huangji Wuyu did not go along with this charade either. He briefly raised his head before speaking in a calm and dry voice, “Half of the scorching sun has been hidden away and the yang energy in the air is gradually dissipating. The time is at hand. Let us prepare to begin.”
Xuanyuan Wentian gently nodded his head. His body began to slowly ascend as he spoke in a bright and clear voice, “The Thirteen Star Alignment. This is a strange and marvelous natural phenomenon that generally occurs every three thousand years. In a short fifteen minutes, this natural phenomenon will appear once more. At that time, the entire Profound Sky Continent will be darkened as yin energy covers the heavens. It is also at that time when the seal on the devil sword will be at its weakest point in three thousand years!”
“The profound formation below is known as the Boundless Universe Formation. It is something that the Four Great Sacred Grounds took several months to complete. It is not something that can be used offensively, but it is able to activate all of the profound energy within its bounds instantly and use that energy to bombard the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword that lies in its center!”
“I see.” Yun Che gave a low gasp. So they would rely on this unique profound formation to perform the so-called gathering of all the might of the heroes of the realm.
The sky grew darker and darker. At this moment, Yun Che raised his head to look at the sky and he saw that half of the scorching sun had already been covered.
After half of it had been covered by the dark scar and the sky began to grow darker at a faster speed. It was clearly noontime, but right now, it seemed as if evening had begun.
Xunayuan Wentian surveyed the sky as he faintly nodded to the other three Sacred Masters. He proclaimed in a loud voice, “The time is near! The time has come for all of us to gather our strength and uncover the secrets of the devil sword! Even though this sword was found by my Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, I, Xuanyuan Wentian, solemnly swear on my title of Sword Master that if the secrets of the Divine Profound are truly uncovered after the seal on the sword has been broken, my Mighty Heavenly Sword Region and the three other Sacred Grounds will not hide and keep it for ourselves. It will be freely shared with all who are participating in the unsealing of this devil sword!”
“The words of Sword Master Xuanyuan are naturally trustworthy, his word is his bond!”
Over at where the Divine Phoenix Sect was seated, Feng Zukui slowly stood up from his seat. Among the powers outside of the Four Great Sacred Grounds, the Divine Phoenix Sect held the most clout and the most influence. Furthermore, the person who possessed the most exalted status within the sect was naturally Feng Zukui as well, “What should we do when the coming phenomenon of the Thirteen Star Alignment arrives?”
“It’s very simple.” Xuanyuan Wentian replied, “I just have to request that all of you rise from your seats and come inside this Boundless Universe Formation while gathering all of the profound energy in your bodies without reservation. The moment the thirteen stars do align and the heaven and earth turns completely dark, I would request that everyone listen to my command and pour all of your profound energy into this formation. This will enable the Boundless Universe Formation to gather an extremely strong power…. No matter how strong the seal on the devil sword is, if the might of everyone present today is gathered up, we will definitely be able to break it in a single strike!”
“Hahahaha, so that is how it is! This old man had always thought that this would be an extremely arduous and risky undertaking. If not, the grand Four Great Sacred Grounds would not have to go so far as to invite all the heroes of the realm. But to think that it was actually so simple.” Feng Zukui let out a great laugh as he took to the skies as well, “Divine Phoenix disciples, listen to my command! Follow me and move inside the Sea God Arena!”
Under Feng Zukui’s command, all the members of the Divine Phoenix Sect had flown up from their seats to arrive within the Boundless Universe Formation. Feng Xue’er hesitated for a moment as she glanced at where Yun Che was seated, but in the end, she had no choice but to accompany Feng Hengkong.
If the Divine Phoenix Sect took the lead, then the other powers within the Seven Nations would not fall behind either, and they followed suit as well. Following the faint gestures made by the Four Sacred Masters, all the gathered disciples of the Four Great Sacred Grounds all took to the sky as well, as they flew onto the Sea God Arena.
In the blink of an eye, the seats that surrounded the Sea God Arena had been completely emptied as the six thousand over profound practitioners who represented the highest level of power within the Profound Sky Continent all floated over the Boundless Universe Formation.
However, three people had yet to leave their seats.
Yun Che, Xia Yuanba… and Fen Juechen!
Furthermore, the three people that were left were all extremely irritating to the eye.
There were no dark clouds in the sky, yet it had still become very dark as the black scar had covered seventy percent of the sun. A deathly stillness had settled over the venue and it seemed as all life had been drained out of the air. Even these mighty profound practitioners felt their chests being engulfed by a heavy pressure.
At this time, Xuanyuan Wentian’s eyes swivelled towards Yun Che as he suddenly spoke, “Asgard Master Yun, could it be that you have no interest towards this devil sword or the secrets of the Divine Profound?”
The words of Xuanyuan Wentian caused everyone to focus their attention on Yun Che.
If this was someone else, they would have definitely become so frightened that their faces would have lost all color. But Yun Che had already prepared for such an eventuality so he gave a faint laugh instead, “It is not that this junior possesses no interest towards these things. It is just that I am still recovering from my wounds. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
“Ah, so that was how it is.” Xuanyuan Wentian said as he nodded his head. His tone changed as he gave a faint smile, “I heard that Asgard Master Yun’s teacher is Old Man Duotian. Ten thousand years ago, Old Man Duotian’s had obtained a world-shaking breakthrough in his profound cultivation, so he must have already reached the pinnacle of perfection. I heard that an elder of the Sun Moon Divine Elder, Ye Shi, had unwittingly offended your revered master and he was completely annihilated by a small wisp of flame. This level of cultivation is completely unheard of and it’s something that has shocked the entire world. If your revered master is able to make an appearance today, he would be able to break this seal on this devil sword with a flick of his wrist, and we would not even need to mobilize the entire profound world of the Profound Sky Continent.”
“Even though he might disdain to take action, if we could even witness the legendary Old Man Duotian, it would be the greatest fortune in our lifetime.”
Only Yun Che could hear the sarcasm and mockery in Xuanyuan Wentian’s voice.
This definitely confirmed that the truth behind “Old Man Duotian” was something that had been exposed to Xuanyuan Wentian! It was also obvious now that the kidnapping of Xiao Yun had been done by Mighty Heavenly Sword Region…. Before this, he was only eighty percent certain. But right now, he was thoroughly convinced!
“My master has no desire to step into the affairs of mortals!” Yun Che replied, remaining calm and composed throughout.
“Heh heh, then that is truly regrettable.” Xuanyuan Wentian gaze shifted to the side as he looked at Xia Yuanba, “Could it be that young Xia is also completely uninterested in the secrets of the Divine Profound?”
“Of course I’m not interested.” Xia Yuanba replied as he crossed his arms over his chest. He had not been moved at all and it even seemed like there was a violent energy hidden within him, “If I want to step into the Divine Profound Realm, it will take me no more than one hundred years, so why would I have any need for the so-called secrets of the Divine Profound… Moreover, we don’t know if it even exists.”
Once these words were uttered, it shocked everyone who was present. Even the faces of the Four Sacred Masters themselves had undergone a dramatic change. Claiming that he would be able to break through to the Divine Profound Realm within one hundred years, even one of the Four Sacred Masters would not be able to make such an arrogant and outrageous claim… Because in the ten thousand year history of the Four Great Sacred Grounds, even those old monsters who had lived for two to three thousand years had been unable to truly touch the Divine Profound Realm.
“Hahahahaha!” The calm and easygoing Huangji Wuyu threw his head back in great laughter, “Yuanba, there has never been a person who has dared to make such an outrageous claim before you did. The words you just said doesn’t matter. Offending Sword Master Xuanyuan is a small thing as well. But Yuanba, you have belittled all the heroes of the realm with one simple sentence. However, this is simply music to this emperor’s ears, hahahahaha…”
It was extremely rare for the Sacred Master of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary to display such emotion. The Twelve Spiritual Masters and the gathered elders of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary had also begun to laugh as well and their laughter was laced with satisfaction and pride. If someone else had uttered those words, it would have been treated as a complete joke. But only Xia Yuanba possessed the right to show such arrogance!
It was just over ten days ago that Xia Yuanba had suddenly experienced a breakthrough in strength yet again after a short period of confinement. Huangji Wuyu had told the Twelve Spiritual Masters then and there: It was very possible that Xia Yuanba would step into the fabled Divine Profound Realm in the future, becoming the first person to do so in the history of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary!
Sovereign of the Seas Qu Fengyi said in a grave voice, “There is no need for Sword Master Xuanyuan to speak any further. It is entirely up to the individual whether they will exert themselves during today’s Devil Sword Conference. If they do not believe or look down on the secrets of the devil sword, then they are certainly within their rights to merely be observers. There is no need to demand or force anyone to do anything! Anyways, the time is at hand! It is about to begin!”
“Alright!”
Eighty percent of the sun had been shrouded by darkness and the skies had become so dark that it seemed as if the curtain of night had fallen upon them. Xuanyuan Wentian raised both of his hands as he spoke, “In about one hundred breaths, the thirteen stars will align. So I request that all of you follow me and concentrate all of the profound energy in your body. You must definitely not hold anything back! The moment the heavens and earth become completely shrouded in darkness, pour forth all your profound energy into the formation at my command! Let’s break the seal on the devil sword!”
“Haah!”
Xuanyuan Wentian gave a great shout as his clothes billowed and his hair stood on end. The profound energy surrounding his body surged and swelled as it manifested a sword intent that covered the heavens.
Huangji Wuyu, Qu Fengyi and Ye Meixie followed suit as four world-shaking auras pressed down on everyone. The power in the air was so heavy and powerful that it seemed like a deity was about to descend from the heavens. This startled the powers from the Seven Nations so badly that they had turned completely ashen.
“Divine Phoenix disciples, heed my command! Concentrate all of the profound energy in your body! Hold back nothing!”
All of the profound energy surrounding Feng Zukui flared up as well as Phoenix flames soared into the heavens. Under his command, all of the Divine Phoenix disciples had ignited their divine Phoenix flames at the same time. In an instant, the darkening sky became stained by a startling crimson light.
Following this, all of the profound practitioners from the Sacred Grounds and the other powers of the Seven Nations began to focus all of their profound energy as well. More than five hundred Monarchs and six thousand Overlords focused their power at the same time, causing the gathered force to be terrifying. All of this profound energy was being focused and was in an unreleased state. This caused Yun Che, who was looking on at the sidelines, to feel as if a terrible and frightening storm was heading his way.
In his normal state, even though this aura was alarming, it would not be enough to force him back. But right now, his entire body was wounded, so it was rather hard for him to bear.
Xia Yuanba swiftly extended a hand in front of Yun Che. Immediately, Yun Che felt the pressure that he was facing lessen by several times as his breathing grew regular once more.
The reason why Xia Yuanba did not enter the Sea God Arena was not because he was uninterested in the secrets of the devil sword. It was to protect Yun Che. Because he was aware of Yun Che’s injuries and the upcoming peril he would face.
On the other side of the Sea God Arena, Fen Juechen had raised his head as well. But he was not looking at a single person. His hungry, wolf-like eyes emitted an extremely malevolent light… as he fiercely stared at the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword that floated in the middle of the Sea God Arena.
The skies grew darker and darker and the originally round sun was covered by so much darkness that only a sliver of it remained in the sky, and even that sliver of light was gradually fading to nothingness… Its color was turning from a scorching orange to a dark red color.
Once the time arrived, even the last smear of dark red light would be completely devoured by the darkness.
In an instant, the world suddenly turned pitch-black as the world was completely engulfed by darkness, without a shred of light. The wind had stopped blowing completely and the air had abruptly turned cold. The entire world seemed to become cold and gloomy as a heavy pressure filled the air. It was as if the entire world had been plunged into a boundless purgatory of darkness.
The Thirteen Star Alignment that only happened once every three thousand years had finally come! Within this three thousand year period, this was also the time when the yin energy in the heavens and earth would be at its richest and most flourishing.
At this time, the Boundless Universe Formation on the Sea God Arena began to fiercely glow with light.
“It is now!” Xuanyuan Wentian gave a roar that ripped through the heavens!
This roar snapped the taut and stretched nerves of all who were present. They immediately responded and fiercely poured out their profound energy in the same instant…
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