Chapter 1145: Coercion
Divine Tribulation Realm Level 1 profound strength, the absolute bottom of the entire battlefield, and his Soul Orb count was actually zero. Wu Guike almost wanted to laugh, but he had no intention of making a move whatsoever, because killing this person wouldn’t even drop a Soul Orb—no loss at all, and it would simply lower his own status.
But what he didn’t expect was that this “mosquito” in his eyes actually flew straight toward him. After seeing him, instead of fleeing, it descended from the sky right in front of him. Before even landing, it let out a low shout: “Wu Guike!”
Wu Guike narrowed his eyes, a playful smirk curling on his lips. “Which rat hole did you crawl out from, daring to call this young master’s name directly… have you grown tired of living?”
In the Heiya Realm, he only knew of “Ling Yun,” and had no idea that Yun Che was “Ling Yun,” nor had he seen him… because before that, he had been scared off by “Xiao Mo Li,” and had even lost a hard-won Nine-Star Buddha God Jade, along with a Void Stone bestowed by his father, the king.
They had crossed paths twice before, and Yun Che had noticed him, but Wu Guike had absolutely no impression of him. After all, this arrogant son of the Shenwu Realm King, who was destined to make a name for himself in this Profound God Convention across the Eastern Divine Region, would never bother to glance at a “piece of trash” with mere Divine Tribulation Realm Level 1 profound aura.
A sinister edge crept into Wu Guike’s voice, enough to make anyone else tremble in fear. But Yun Che’s expression seemed even darker than his. With time extremely pressing, he had no intention of wasting a single extra word on Wu Guike, and directly roared: “Wu Guike, I’m here to make a deal with you!”
“A deal? With you?” Wu Guike looked as if he had just heard the biggest joke in the world.
“Cut the crap! Just look at this yourself!”
Yun Che’s arm grabbed and flung, and a small, stone-like object flew horizontally toward Wu Guike.
“Oh?” Wu Guike caught it casually, finding it quite amusing. A mocking thought crossed his mind: Could this guy be an idiot? Not only is there a pile of trash here, even an idiot can participate. This Profound God Convention really is nothing special after all.
He lifted his finger, but his expression changed instantly. His heart gave a violent lurch… because the object pinched between his fingers was unmistakably a Mysterious Shadow Stone.
His shock, of course, had nothing to do with Yun Che… but rather, two years ago in the Heiya Realm, he had been severely tricked by “Xiao Mo Li”—actually Princess Caizhi, the Celestial Wolf Star God—using two Mysterious Shadow Stones. Not only did he suffer a double loss, but he also endured the greatest fright of his life several times over.
Ever since then, his soul had been deeply shadowed by Mysterious Shadow Stones. Every time he saw one, his heart would pound with terror, and even now he hadn’t fully shaken it off.
“Take a good look at what’s inside!” Yun Che said in a deep voice. Even facing Wu Guike, he showed no sign of yielding.
Wu Guike’s brow furrowed slightly. The shadow of the Mysterious Shadow Stone and Yun Che’s unusual attitude made him feel a trace of unease and something amiss. He didn’t disdainfully crush the stone but instead infused it with his profound energy and swept his spiritual sense over it.
After a few breaths of silence, Wu Guike’s face underwent a massive change. His body jolted violently, and his sharply constricted pupils locked onto Yun Che: “You… where did you get this thing!?”
This Mysterious Shadow Stone was one of the two stones Yun Che had picked up from the corpse of Heiya Realm King Lei Qianfeng back then. The images inscribed within involved the Shenwu Sect hunting Wood Spirits, plotting to capture royal Wood Spirits, and scouring the lower realms for women to use as cultivation cauldrons… and most of it had been spoken by Wu Guike himself. In the image, his face, figure, voice, and demeanor were as clear as could be.
As Wu Guike shouted, the Mysterious Shadow Stone in his hand was crushed to powder by his uncontrolled profound energy, but his contorted expression did not relax in the slightest, because this was the preliminary battlefield, and everything here was a projection!
Only real objects could be projected in, and even if a projection was destroyed down to the last speck, it would have zero effect on the real body or the actual item.
Ever since being scared half to death by Caizhi back then, he had suffered nightmares for several months… and now, a nightmare more terrifying than those was right before his eyes. This man, who had just moments ago been like an arbiter controlling life and death, toying with others’ dignity, exuding arrogance—Wu Guike’s face was deathly pale, and his lips trembled uncontrollably.
No one knew better than he did the consequences of the images in that Mysterious Shadow Stone being leaked.
“I’m not obliged to explain that to you,” Yun Che said darkly. He figured that even if he said he just happened to find it, Wu Guike wouldn’t believe him anyway. “The contents of this Mysterious Shadow Stone—I’m sure you, Master Wu, definitely don’t want them to get out. And my demand is very simple, something you can easily do.”
Lowering his voice, Yun Che stared straight at Wu Guike’s shifting expression: “Let me kill you once! I need to enter the second round of preliminaries!”
This was the last hope that had suddenly occurred to him after hearing that brutal decree from the Heavens.
To avoid being expelled from the Zhou Tian Divine Realm, he had to break into the top ten of his warzone.
With his current state, it was a pipe dream.
But… if he could kill Wu Guike once…
Wu Guike’s current Soul Orb count was six million five hundred thousand, ranking first in their warzone. Killing him once would directly plunder thirty percent of his Soul Orbs—that is, nearly two million Soul Orbs!
That would vault him straight to the top ten… no, the top five!
In terms of pure strength, even with all his trump cards, a hundred of him wouldn’t be a match for Wu Guike. But his hand happened to hold a massive leverage over Wu Guike—those two Mysterious Shadow Stones he had picked up from Lei Qianfeng’s corpse.
Back when he had stumbled upon those two Mysterious Shadow Stones, Yun Che’s reaction had been more of surprise; he had never thought they would be used. Yet, in this sudden “desperate situation,” they had become his final straw of salvation.
Divine Tribulation Realm Level 1… wanting to enter the second round of preliminaries!?
Wu Guike wanted to laugh, but he couldn’t. His mouth twitched: “A piece of trash like you… worthy!?”
“Heh, whether I’m worthy or not is none of your concern. You’d better worry about yourself,” Yun Che said, not angry at all; instead, he smiled. “Wu Guike, son of the great Realm King of the Shenwu Realm, what a noble status. Your profound path cultivation goes without saying. Among all the top young talents of the Eastern Divine Region gathered here at the Profound God Convention, you can rank in the top twenty. What an impressive achievement. You, Wu Guike, will soon become famous across the world, known to all, basking in glory. You might even become the pride of this generation in the Shenwu Realm, admired by the entire realm, favored by your father the king, and after ten thousand years, inheriting the position of Great Realm King—it’s not impossible.”
“But… if the contents of this Mysterious Shadow Stone suddenly leak out, and the whole world knows, what do you think will happen?”
With these words, he first painted a vivid picture of the glory and boundless future within Wu Guike’s reach, then abruptly kicked him into icy hell—Yun Che’s mouth twisted into a smirk that only appeared on the most cunning villains.
“You… you dare!?” Every muscle on Wu Guike’s face trembled. The last time he was threatened by “Xiao Mo Li,” he had no choice but to accept it, because that was the Celestial Wolf Star God, an existence even his father had to respect.
But now, a mere “piece of trash” that he wouldn’t normally deign to look at was threatening him too… compared to that time, this was infinitely more humiliating and infuriating.
“Then you can try to see if I dare!” Yun Che’s aura and gaze showed not a shred of weakness.
“You…” Wu Guike’s chest heaved, and he laughed in extreme rage: “Ha… hahaha… how ridiculous. Even a piece of trash dares to threaten me… Yun Che, heh! Do you believe I can kill your entire family, annihilate your whole clan, chop you into pieces, and make your life worse than death without lifting a finger?”
“I believe it! Of course I believe it. You, Master Wu, certainly have that ability.” Yun Che smiled back. “But before that, I’m afraid your Shenwu Realm will be condemned by thousands, punished by the King Realms, and as the culprit who dragged the Shenwu Realm into this situation, you’ll have enough trouble of your own. Being cursed by your entire realm, skinned alive by your father, having your legs broken, and having your profound arts abolished—that’s the lightest outcome…”
“You!! Shut up!”
Yun Che’s words were like the most vicious curse, chilling Wu Guike to the bone… because he knew perfectly well that if those images in the Mysterious Shadow Stone were really exposed, these “vicious curses” might very well come true!
His hands clenched tightly, profound energy swirling around him. He wished he could tear Yun Che apart… but this was the battlefield, a projection! Even if he killed Yun Che a thousand or ten thousand times, it would be utterly useless.
He wouldn’t even lose a Soul Orb!
“Ah.” Yun Che sighed, shaking his head slowly. “It seems Master Wu isn’t too keen on this deal. How strange. It’s just letting me kill you once, right? With your six hundred fifty thousand Soul Orbs, even if you lose thirty percent, you’ll still be first in this warzone. At worst, your overall ranking drops a bit. It won’t stop you from entering the second round of preliminaries. And the ranking in this round is just a preliminary ranking, completely unrelated to the real peak rankings later.”
“In other words, you lose nothing at all, and you can save the reputation of the Shenwu Realm and your own future. What a great deal! Me offering this myself is practically handing you a huge bargain on a silver platter, and you still won’t agree?”
Yun Che’s gaze slanted, his expression pitying. “The son of the great Shenwu Realm King—I thought even if you weren’t especially smart, you wouldn’t be an idiot. But… tsk tsk tsk.”
“Bull… shit!” Wu Guike was so furious his liver and lungs felt like exploding, all his blood rushing to his head: “You… a piece of trash like you… a waste… worthy…”
“Heh!” Yun Che snorted coldly, too lazy to listen any longer. He suddenly turned around: “Very well, then let it be as you, Master Wu, wish. Heh… I guarantee that within three days… oh, no, within three hours, your reputation, Master Wu, will rise to another level, hahaha!”
With a loud laugh, Yun Che stopped paying any further attention to Wu Guike. He soared into the air and flew away at great speed.
“Stop right there!!”
With a fierce roar, a powerful burst of air suddenly descended from the sky, pressing down like a ten-thousand-zhang mountain, locking Yun Che firmly in midair. Wu Guike’s figure flickered and flashed directly in front of Yun Che, his eyes as sinister as a demon’s.
But Yun Che showed no fear at all. He spread his arms lazily and said with full sarcasm: “If you want to kill me, Master Wu, go ahead. I absolutely will not resist, heh!”
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