Chapter 1137: A Chance Encounter
A blue light flashed, the world shifted, and Yun Che opened his eyes, looking at the preliminary selection venue that had gathered all the young geniuses of the God Realm.
The ground was withered and yellow, buildings stood in clusters, imposing and ancient yet mostly dilapidated. Beside him, the Bing Huang disciples appeared one after another. They looked at the world they had been transported into, and the excitement and tension in their eyes gradually turned to surprise.
This was clearly an ancient, primitive, and long-silent old city—how could it be anything like a "preliminary selection venue"?
"This… seems like an abandoned ancient city?" Yun Che said, looking around.
"According to what Master said, because this Profound God Convention has the Zhou Tian Pearl, the preliminaries will be teleported to the inner world of the Zhou Tian Pearl," Huo Poyun said as he walked over. "So this place is likely not the preliminary competition venue, but a temporary assembly point before the competition."
Naturally, they were not the only ones here; powerful auras emanated continuously from all around. Because to be sent here, one must be at least at the Divine Tribulation Realm. That meant that in this world, Divine Tribulation profound practitioners, who were rarely seen on ordinary days, and even Divine Spirit profound practitioners, were everywhere.
However, they were not exploring around; most sat in place, calming their minds, making the final and most important preparations before the great battle.
"The interior of the Zhou Tian Pearl is indeed quite exciting," Yun Che said with a smile. "There are less than three days left. Brother Poyun, do you need to adjust your state?"
"No need," Huo Poyun said confidently. "Although the atmosphere of the Zhou Tian God Realm is quite different from the Yan Shen Realm, it won't affect me much."
He looked into the distance, his voice suddenly turning a bit heavier. "In this Profound God Convention, I must break into the top thousand... no matter what."
"I believe Brother Poyun will definitely achieve it." Yun Che did not say comforting words like "don't put too much pressure on yourself," because the heavy pressure on Huo Poyun was as immense as a vast star realm, impossible to soothe with any comfort.
On the other side, the Bing Huang disciples had gathered under the guidance of Mu Hanyu. He came before Yun Che and said, "Senior Brother Yun Che, we just found a quiet place. Would you like to join us?"
"No need," Yun Che shook his head. "I want to walk around. Don't worry about me."
"Very well," Mu Hanyu nodded, said no more, and turned to leave.
"Brother Yun," Huo Poyun gave him a deep look, "I feel... you don't seem to have much desire for the Profound God Convention. Instead, you seem to have other things on your mind?"
"The Profound God Convention belongs to extraordinary talents like Brother Poyun. With my cultivation level, it's impossible for me to achieve anything, so it's hard to have much interest," Yun Che said casually.
"Brother Yun, you must not belittle yourself like that," Huo Poyun shook his head. "You went from the Divine Origin Realm to the Divine Tribulation Realm in less than three years. Coupled with your ice talent, if this Profound God Convention were twenty years later, the entire Dong Shen Domain would know the name of Brother Yun... name... name..."
Huo Poyun's voice suddenly weakened, and he stood there stunned, his eyes staring straight ahead as if he had suddenly lost his soul.
"?" Yun Che turned around in confusion and immediately saw a beautiful snow-white figure.
She had been looking this way, but when she met Yun Che's gaze, her icy crystal-like beautiful eyes turned away, leaving Yun Che only a distant, indifferent back view as she slowly walked away.
"Feixue?" Yun Che murmured unconsciously, a slight complexity stirring in his heart.
"That just now... was she also from your sect... Brother Yun's junior sister?" Huo Poyun had already come back to his senses, using as calm a tone as possible to hide his earlier lapse.
"You could say... yes." Yun Che usually addressed Mu Feixue as senior sister, although according to sect rules, Mu Feixue was indeed his junior sister. He glanced at Huo Poyun's expression without drawing attention and said with a half-smile, "She is the granddaughter of Grand Elder Huanzhi, Mu Feixue."
"Ah?" Huo Poyun was startled, then said somewhat excitedly, "So she is Mu Feixue! I... actually never noticed her before."
Before Huo Poyun first set foot in the Yin Xue Realm three years ago with Huo Rulie, he had heard of Mu Hanyi and Mu Feixue of the Bing Huang God Sect. But he was obsessed with cultivation and didn't care about matters outside the profound way, so naturally he didn't pay attention to the top disciples of the Bing Huang God Sect.
That just now was the first time he had ever seen Mu Feixue. In that instant, it was as if a flawless ice lotus had bloomed in his pupils, making the entire world in his eyes as beautiful as a fleeting dream. Then, this feeling spread through his body like an uncontrollable plague, infiltrating his heart and soul, causing the flames within his body and soul to spontaneously burn, chaotically boil, without end.
This feeling, he had never experienced in his life, and he couldn't describe it with any words he knew.
"Brother Poyun, are you alright?" Yun Che suddenly asked out of the blue. "You couldn't be..."
"No, no, no! Not at all!" Before Yun Che even finished speaking and made his meaning clear, Huo Poyun reacted as if pricked by needles and quickly denied it. "I've long heard that Mu Feixue is like a snow fairy incarnate. Seeing her just now, not only is the reputation well-deserved, it's even better than the rumors. So I was deeply stunned, which caused a slight loss of composure. Absolutely... absolutely no other intentions. Besides, I have sworn to pursue the ultimate profound path in my life, so how could I stoop to matters of love between men and women?"
"...I was asking, could this be your first time seeing Junior Sister Feixue? I thought you had met her long ago," Yun Che said with a half-smile.
"..." Huo Poyun's face stiffened, he gave an awkward smile, and said somewhat sheepishly, "It really is... the first time."
In terms of profound cultivation, Yun Che was far inferior to Huo Poyun, but when it came to matters of love between men and women, Yun Che's experience was far greater than Huo Poyun's. How could he not understand what Huo Poyun's reaction just now meant? He said casually, "In terms of pursuing the profound way, Junior Sister Feixue is quite similar to Brother Poyun. The women of Bing Huang are naturally detached from desires, and Junior Sister Feixue is a direct inheritor of the Bing Huang bloodline. It is said that she will never have feelings of love or desire for men and women in her life, let alone marry. Just like my Master and the Ice Cloud Palace Master. Ah, it's a pity."
When a person who has always been indifferent, even disdainful of romantic feelings suddenly develops feelings for someone, it often becomes extremely intense and profound, perhaps the only time in a lifetime. For Huo Poyun's momentary lapse before Mu Feixue, Yun Che felt not amusement, but a certain heaviness.
This was definitely not a good omen...
All he could do was try to let Huo Poyun gradually erase that momentary flutter, but the outcome was unpredictable.
"Mm, I think I've heard something like that from Master before," Huo Poyun said, but his words seemed a bit absent-minded, and his gaze occasionally drifted toward the direction Mu Feixue had left.
Huo Poyun's appearance made Yun Che sigh inwardly, thinking: The Yan Shen Realm has an extremely strong yang aura, with a majority of males, and even the females are mostly masculine. Huo Poyun has seen too many ugly women in the Yan Shen Realm, and then one glance at a fairy-level woman like Mu Feixue...
He hoped it was just a momentary shock.
In the distance, Mu Feixue stopped and turned around to look in the direction of Yun Che and Huo Poyun. She murmured softly to herself, "How do you know... that I cannot develop feelings..."
Mu Bingyun had said that although the scale of this Profound God Convention had been greatly compressed, there would still be tens of millions of profound practitioners participating, so this dilapidated ancient city should be just one of the assembly points.
Although a large number of participating profound practitioners had already flooded in, the entire ancient city was unusually quiet. Perhaps it was because they were restraining their words and actions under the control of the Zhou Tian God Realm, or because they were fully concentrating and calming their minds. And the stillness of this ancient city undoubtedly accentuated the extreme oppression before the great battle.
While Yun Che and Huo Poyun were talking, a group of people suddenly walked unhurriedly from the front. They were a bunch of young profound practitioners dressed similarly, each with extraordinary bearing and auras that were stronger than the next. Yet such a group of geniuses, who would be renowned in any star realm, were following one person like stars around the moon.
At the very front was a young man in golden robes, with strikingly handsome features, a noble yet slightly sinister aura, and his golden garments glittered brilliantly, definitely no ordinary items. His eyes carried a pride that seemed to overlook heaven and earth, even in this world where only top geniuses could enter.
He saw Yun Che, but his gaze did not pause for a moment, sweeping past him as if passing over a stone discarded on the roadside. When he saw Huo Poyun, his gaze fixed, and his brows sank slightly, but in the end, he said nothing and walked past the two of them proudly.
Watching his back, Yun Che's brows furrowed slightly.
"Brother Yun, do you know him?" Huo Poyun asked, his tone quite serious.
"Shenwu Realm, Wu Guike!" Yun Che said.
He had seen Wu Guike before, but only in a recording from a Mysterious Shadow Stone; this was his first time truly seeing him.
The God Realm was so vast. He had nearly encountered him back then in the Heiya Realm, and now they met here. Quite a coincidence.
"So he is Wu Guike?" Huo Poyun took a deep breath and said somewhat heavily, "No wonder Master praised him so much. His profound strength... is definitely above mine!"
"Above yours?" Yun Che turned back, his face full of shock.
When he was in the Heiya Realm, he had heard Ji Ruyan say that Wu Guike was the most outstanding among the young children of Wu Sanzun, the Shenwu Realm King, with extremely high talent and achieving the Divine Spirit Realm at a young age... But he never imagined that his profound strength was not only at the Divine Spirit Realm, but at the late stage, actually surpassing the current Huo Poyun.
Huo Poyun's cultivation was at the seventh level of the Divine Spirit Realm. Above Huo Poyun... that would mean at least the same seventh level of Divine Spirit Realm, or even higher!
"Having profound strength that surpasses mine doesn't mean I will lose to him." Huo Poyun clenched his hands tightly, his face gradually tensing. Clearly, the appearance of Wu Guike had multiplied the pressure he had been carrying all along. "I must not... let down Master and the expectations of the Yan Shen Realm!"
Huo Poyun's almost gritted-teeth words and his trembling clenched fists made Yun Che's brows twitch slightly. At that moment, he suddenly realized that Huo Poyun might be driven not so much by the expectations and future of the Yan Shen Realm, but by the persistence and dignity deeply ingrained in his bones.
At that moment, Yun Che seemed to sense something and almost instinctively looked up.
It was a young girl who looked very young, seemingly only thirteen or fourteen years old. She wore a long black palace dress, with black hair fluttering down to her waist and draping to her ankles. A black butterfly sash was tied around her waist, cinching her delicate, slender waist. Even the jade shoes on her feet reflected a black crystal-like luster.
She was like a petite elf emerging from the dark night—her black hair and black dress all exuded a dangerous mystique. Yet her skin was as porcelain-white as jade, emitting a charm completely incongruous with her youth.
The girl was not alone; beside her was a young lady who looked to be under twenty. She wore a light blue long dress, and as she moved, it flowed like water, inadvertently outlining an exquisitely graceful figure. Her jade-like face was stunningly beautiful, but carried a coldness and exuded a sacred, inviolable aura that made one feel deeply inferior just by looking at her.
Just as Yun Che's gaze lingered slightly, the black-dressed girl suddenly looked toward him. Yun Che immediately met a pair of eyes as bright and clear as a newborn baby's.
The identities of these two girls were undoubtedly extraordinary, and staring rashly was also rude. Yun Che should have looked away, but it was as if something irresistible had firmly attracted him, and his gaze remained fixed on the girl's eyes, unblinking.
In silence, the world seemed to freeze, and everything else quietly faded and disappeared. Gradually, in his vision, in his world, only this pair of star-like eyes remained.
It was as if he had suddenly fallen into an endless dark night.