Chapter 1114: News of the Royal Immortal Herb
As his injuries gradually healed, Yun Che's complexion improved significantly. He suddenly thought of something and took out from the Heavenly Poison Pearl the gray, strange stone he had obtained from Lei Qianfeng's body. "Miss Ji Ruyan, I found this item on Lei Qianfeng's corpse. It doesn't seem to be an ordinary profound stone. Do you recognize it?"
The moment she saw the grayish-white stone in Yun Che's hand, Ji Ruyan's delicate brows twitched visibly, but she couldn't believe her initial judgment. She carefully took it from Yun Che's hand, and after a moment, she suddenly lifted her head and exclaimed in shock, "Void Stone!"
Despite her vast knowledge and countless encounters with extraordinary treasures from heaven and earth, Ji Ruyan reacted so strongly. Yun Che immediately asked, "What is a Void Stone? What does it do?"
Holding it in both hands, her pink cheeks still carrying astonishment, Ji Ruyan said, "In terms of level, the Void Stone is far superior to the Nine-Star Buddha God Jade, and its rarity is even greater. Moreover, Void Stones are non-renewable—once one is used, it will be gone forever from the Chaos."
Yun Che looked surprised... Something even more precious and rarer than the Nine-Star Buddha God Jade?!
"Regarding the Void Stone, there are two different records and legends. One says it was born from the power of the 'Cosmic Thorn,' one of the Mystic Heaven Supreme Treasures. The other says the Cosmic Thorn was conceived within a massive raw Void Stone, and when the Cosmic Thorn emerged, that raw Void Stone shattered into countless Void Stones that scattered throughout the Chaos. Regardless of which is true, one thing is beyond doubt... It contains a level of spatial power comparable to the Cosmic Thorn—though only for a single use."
The Cosmic Thorn, ranked sixth among the Mystic Heaven Supreme Treasures, was the supreme treasure of ultimate spatial power!
"Having a Void Stone on you means that if you encounter a fatal danger, you can crush it, and the high-level spatial power it releases will instantly teleport you to another space," Ji Ruyan explained.
"Isn't that... something ordinary space profound stones and dimensional arrays can do?" Yun Che asked doubtfully.
"Of course not," Ji Ruyan shook her head. "Ordinary spatial teleportation consumes immense energy, and the farther the distance, the more enormous the consumption. The time taken also becomes lengthy, and there's even the risk of encountering deadly spatial storms. But the Void Stone's spatial transfer has no distance limit—it can directly teleport you to any corner of the Chaos, no matter how far, even from the South Pole of the Chaos to the North Pole, and it happens in an instant."
"Ordinary spatial teleportation always leaves spatial traces. For powerful experts, tracking those traces is not difficult, but the Void Stone never does. Its spatial transfer leaves no trace whatsoever, and even the most proficient master of spatial laws cannot track it."
After saying this, Ji Ruyan raised an eyebrow and muttered softly to herself, "Strange... How could Lei Qianfeng have a Void Stone on him... And why didn't he use it before he died?"
"So, carrying this item is like having an extra life?" Yun Che said.
"Of course. It's recognized as the ultimate life-saving treasure in the Shen Realm," Ji Ruyan smiled. "Even if one day, Young Master is cornered to death by someone as powerful as a King Realm's Realm King, you can still escape safely. Congratulations on obtaining such a divine object. It seems you are favored by the heavens."
"Hmph," from high above, little Mo Li snorted, wrinkling her nose.
"The only drawback is that its spatial transfer is uncontrollable. No one can predict where it will send you. After all, the level of spatial power belonging to the Cosmic Thorn is not something ordinary people can control."
Taking back the Void Stone, Yun Che felt a newfound sense of solid security. This unremarkable stone, unintentionally obtained from Lei Qianfeng's body, turned out to be such a powerful life-saving tool.
Coupled with the Nine-Star Buddha God Jade he had long dreamed of and two Mysterious Shadow Stones containing evidence against the Shenwu Realm... Lei Qianfeng had committed countless evils in life, but after death, he was damn near an angel!
"Any progress on the Royal Immortal Herb?" Yun Che asked.
Ji Ruyan gently shook her head. "Father has been doing his utmost to search. Father was born into the Black Feather Chamber of Commerce and places great importance on loyalty and gratitude. For your grace, Young Master, Father often sighs that he has no way to repay you. He will spare no effort to fulfill your request. In fact, his eagerness might even surpass yours. So please rest assured. I believe there will be results within a year."
Yun Che nodded gratefully. "Thank you for your trouble."
Ji Ruyan smiled and shook her head. Her beautiful eyes gazed at him, and she suddenly spoke softly, "I wonder if I might be fortunate enough to know your true name?"
Her gaze was as clear as water, carrying an innate tenderness—sincere and heart-stirring.
"Yun... Che." Without much hesitation, he answered slowly.
He had initially hidden his real name for fear of it reaching Yinxue Realm. But during his time in Heiya Realm, he had built enough trust with Ji Ruyan, so there was no need to conceal it any longer.
Her lips pressed gently, and a particularly radiant light rippled in her beautiful eyes as she whispered, "I will remember those two words for the rest of my life..."
"Brother-in-law!"
Before Ji Ruyan's soft voice had faded, a sharp, girlish cry came from above. Under their astonished gazes, Xiao Mo Li fell from the air and "whooshed" to Yun Che's side. "Brother-in-law, what are you doing? Why are you hurt again?"
"..." Ji Ruyan's lips parted as she looked at the colorful-clad girl who was as adorable as a fairy-tale princess. "Young Master, she called you... brother-in-law?"
Xiao Mo Li seemed to just notice Ji Ruyan. She turned her face, full of suspicion, and looked at her. "Huh? Brother-in-law, who is this auntie?"
Before Yun Che or Ji Ruyan could react, Xiao Mo Li's expression suddenly changed, and she let out a startling scream, "Ah!! Brother-in-law, could it be... you're messing around with other women behind sister's back!? How could you! Sister treats you so well, and she's suffered so much for you, but not only do you not care about her, you're actually fooling around with other women! How despicable! Wuwu, sister is so pitiful..."
"Little girl," Ji Ruyan felt a strong hostility coming from Xiao Mo Li the moment she appeared. "Young Master and I are not..."
"Brother-in-law!" Xiao Mo Li ignored her and continued shouting at Yun Che. "How can you be worthy of sister like this! And this woman is not only older than sister, uglier than sister, but also... not as gentle as sister! Except for having bigger breasts, she's inferior to sister in every way! And you actually... I'm going home and telling sister to never speak to you again!"
"..." Ji Ruyan stood up, a faint, ambiguous smile on her lips. "Young Master, it seems you have family matters to attend to. I'll take my leave. When there's news, I'll inform you as soon as possible."
Amidst Xiao Mo Li's torrential accusations, Ji Ruyan flew away.
Yun Che reached out and pinched Xiao Mo Li's chattering lips. "Alright, stop acting."
"Slap!" Xiao Mo Li slapped his hand away, her face still filled with anger. She huffed, "Who's acting! Tell me, what's your relationship with that woman? Did she seduce you, or did you seduce her?"
"There's absolutely no relationship of the kind you're inexplicably imagining..."
"Liar! Then why were you sitting so close and laughing so happily, huh!"
Yun Che rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright, even if I really were fooling around, what business is it of yours?"
"How is it not my business!" Xiao Mo Li's voice shot up an octave. "You're my brother-in-law! You already have my sister! How can you go messing around with other women!"
"Hehehe..." Yun Che gave a tired laugh. "Little girl, even if you're so deep into your role that you've gone crazy, you should at least get one thing straight. I've told you before, Mo Li is not my wife—she's my master!"
"Huh?" Xiao Mo Li blinked, her voice softening. "R-really? I don't remember that? Ah, whatever! I've already called you brother-in-law, so you're not allowed to be so close to other women anymore... Not allowed!"
"..." Yun Che leaned forward, slowly closing in on Xiao Mo Li's face. "I'll let it slide that you always manage to find me, but I'm increasingly feeling like you have some agenda against me... Who exactly are you?"
Under the pressure of Yun Che's deep gaze, Xiao Mo Li's heart fluttered slightly, but her eyes didn't waver at all. Her star-studded eyes met his directly. "Of course I'm your most beautiful and cutest sister-in-law! As a brother-in-law, you have to obediently listen to me. Don't get too close to that woman anymore... or any other woman, for that matter. Otherwise... Hmph!"
Her eyes wide and her lips pouted, she shot him a warning look that carried no real threat, then turned around and left without looking back.
"..." Staring at the direction Xiao Mo Li had gone, Yun Che furrowed his brow, lost in thought.
Looking back on his first meeting with Xiao Mo Li, it had been purely coincidental with no sign of deliberate arrangement. But everything involving her afterward was fraught with strangeness.
"Who exactly is she?" Yun Che murmured to himself again.
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Yun Che's breakthrough into the Divine Way had been very recent, and soon after, because of Mu Xuanyin's Ice Phoenix Yin Essence, he had leaped directly from the Divine Origin Realm to the Divine Soul Realm. One consequence of this was that his understanding of Divine Way profound force was extremely shallow.
After two months of cultivation on Heihun Mountain, his profound strength had barely advanced at all. Yun Che finally realized this and stopped cultivating to focus on perceiving the profound force laws of the Divine Soul Realm.
If Mo Li or Mu Xuanyin were by his side, their guidance combined with Yun Che's high comprehension would have allowed him to quickly grasp everything. Even without external aid, his profound force progress would have far exceeded that of ordinary profound practitioners. But alone, with his foundation in the Divine Origin Realm not yet stable, trying to thoroughly understand the power of the Divine Soul Realm was incredibly difficult. Furthermore, his profound force was unique, and he carried too many secrets that couldn't be revealed to others, so he couldn't seek guidance from other experts. Thus, although he made some progress in understanding the Divine Way, it was very slow.
Unknowingly, Yun Che had already stayed on Heihun Mountain for five months.
His profound force remained at Divine Soul Realm Level 2, stagnant.
"Sigh."
Opening his eyes, Yun Che let out a heavy sigh. "Cultivating the Divine Way is so difficult. Back in Yinxue Realm, I didn't feel it, but now that I've left Master... sigh."
Crunch! Crunch!
A great sword overflowing with Divine Way aura was being shattered under Hong'er's teeth like brittle ice. Hong'er chewed while mumbling, "Why doesn't master go back? I like it there, it's all white."
"Going back would get me killed by Master. If I die, you'll starve to death." Remembering the hazy look in Mu Xuanyin's eyes and her voice on the Primordial Mystic Ark, his breath caught. He shook his head. "It seems I can only pin my hopes on the Royal Immortal Herb."
Just then, Yun Che's Sound Transmission Jade suddenly emitted a relatively strong wave of profound energy. He quickly picked it up.
"Young Master! We have news of the Royal Immortal Herb!"