# Chapter 128: Are You Sure?
The exchange between Li Mo and Feng Yue could only be described as utterly tragic.
Seven moves of sparring. Li Mo used seven sword techniques and was thrown onto the ground seven times. His sword never once touched even the corner of Feng Yue's clothes. Feng Yue's profound strength level was a full seven levels higher than Li Mo's, with an entire great realm between them. He seemed to have forgotten—or perhaps simply didn't care—that this was supposed to be a combat evaluation. Throughout the entire process, he used his own profound strength to crush Li Mo without restraint, a faint smile clearly visible on his face as if he thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of wanton trampling.
After seven moves, Li Mo's clothes were torn and tattered. Falling seven times had also left him with light injuries in several places.
"Seven moves are done. Stop," Instructor Qi said, then looked at Li Mo and remarked, "Your strikes were somewhat hesitant, but your profound strength control was decent enough. Barely passing. You can report to the Outer Palace tomorrow morning."
"Ah!" Li Mo let out a low exclamation, then revealed a face full of ecstasy. In his joy, he completely forgot the pain from his injuries and repeatedly bowed to Instructor Qi in delight: "Thank you, Instructor, for granting me this chance. Thank you, Instructor..."
After expressing his thousand thanks, Li Mo left happily amidst the envious gazes of the other profound practitioners.
"Next: Chen Yue!"
The second examinee fared no better than Li Mo. The moment he stepped up, he was knocked down by Feng Yue. After seven moves, his face was swollen and bruised...
As the combat evaluation proceeded, the subsequent examinees grew increasingly terrified, because the fates of those who went up to spar with Feng Yue became more miserable with each one. Among them, many had watched the previous days' evaluations. Those senior brothers serving as opponents mostly never counterattacked but instead defended, allowing the examinees to fully display their profound strength. Occasional counterattacks were only to push the opponent away. But this Feng Yue showed no mercy with every move. During the seven-move sparring, the examinee made seven attacks, and he counterattacked seven times without missing a single one, almost every blow ensuring the opponent got injured.
He didn't seem like he was there to assist with the evaluation—he seemed to be there to revel in the pleasure of showing off and crushing others!
This continued until Ao Yan stepped up, and then things changed.
After Ao Yan went up, his profound strength erupted outward on a large scale immediately. With a startling momentum like wind sweeping clouds, his first move actually forced Feng Yue back a step, drawing widespread cheers and exclamations from the surroundings. Over seven moves, Ao Yan handled himself quite calmly. Not only did he avoid injury, but he wasn't pushed back by Feng Yue even once.
"Oh, very good," Feng Yue said with a beaming smile after the seven moves were done, nodding to the old man. "Instructor Qi, this is a rare talent. Not only is his profound strength level impressive, but his control and execution of profound strength are nothing short of miraculous. To reach this level at his age—one in ten thousand, truly."
"You flatter me, Senior Brother," Ao Yan said with a feigned look of reverence, but his eyes gleamed with smug satisfaction.
"Indeed, a rare talent. Ao Yan, you have also passed. Report to the Mystic Palace tomorrow," Instructor Qi nodded.
Yun Che twitched his brow and let out a silent sneer: The exchange of glances between Ao Yan and Feng Yue is truly worthy of note.
"Thank you, Instructor Qi," Ao Yan said calmly as he bowed. As he stepped down from the platform and passed by Feng Yue, he said in a low, rapid voice: "Cousin, help me teach Yun Fan and Yun Che a lesson—make it as humiliating as possible... Tonight, the Eighteen Flower Pavilions of the Imperial Capital, pick whichever you like."
Feng Yue's eyes immediately lit up. He slowly stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, a sinister smile curling at the corners of his mouth.
"Next: Yun Fan."
"Ah, finally my turn." Yun Fan let out a very nervous exclamation.
"Be careful. This Feng Yue is no good person," Yun Che warned in a low voice.
"Mm, I'll be careful," Yun Fan nodded. He raised his profound energy, leaped onto the high platform, and stood before Feng Yue: "Senior Brother Feng Yue, please guide me."
"Oh? Yun Fan?" Looking at the boy before him, still young and inexperienced, Feng Yue's gaze turned playful and dangerous. He gave a faint smile and said, "Judging by your age, you should only be fifteen, right? What a pity... Make your move. Let me see what you're made of."
The words "What a pity" in Feng Yue's mouth confused Yun Fan. He didn't dare to say much. He crossed his hands before his chest, his profound strength surging throughout his body. On both palms, two clusters of purple lightning slowly gathered, crackling and sizzling.
"Oh, you even have thunder-type profound arts. Not bad," Feng Yue said lazily, extending his right hand with a chuckle.
"Thunderclap Palm!"
Yun Fan brought his palms together. Combining his family's thunder-type profound arts with a thunder-type profound technique, he charged straight at Feng Yue.
Yun Fan's profound strength was only at the Xuan Entry Realm, Level 2—fully eleven levels below Feng Yue. His attack was definitely extraordinary among those of the same level, but it posed no threat to Feng Yue whatsoever. Just as Yun Fan was about to reach Feng Yue, Feng Yue's figure suddenly flickered. He actively closed in on Yun Fan, his elbow effortlessly breaking through Yun Fan's protective profound force and slamming heavily into his chest... At the moment of impact, a barely perceptible sinister grin appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Crack!
A clear sound of bone breaking rang in everyone's ears. The thunderous radiance gathered in Yun Fan's hands dissipated instantly. His body flew backward like a discarded sandbag, spewing a mouthful of blood in midair before crashing heavily outside the platform.
The surroundings erupted in an uproar. Everyone was stunned, eyes wide at the unexpected scene. Yun Che's face darkened. He rushed quickly to Yun Fan's side. Yun Fan lay on the ground, his face pale, his lips covered in blood. The bones on the left side of his chest were broken, and he couldn't get up from the ground at all.
The anger in Yun Che's heart surged up like a flame. He turned to Feng Yue and said in a low voice, "Feng Yue! This is just an evaluation. Why are you striking so heavily!?"
Feng Yue spread his hands, putting on a very innocent expression: "How was I supposed to know his profound strength was so low? I saw he had thunder-type profound arts, so I thought he could take a hit... but it turns out... tsk tsk, what a disappointment."
On the other side, Ao Yan grinned coldly: Yun Fan, this is the price you pay for speaking rudely to me... Next up is Yun Che. Daring to steal my thunder... I'll make sure you never enter the Cangfeng Mystic Palace in this lifetime.
"Feng Yue, you struck too hard!" Instructor Qi also frowned, saying sternly.
"It was indeed my failure to control my strength," Feng Yue turned to Instructor Qi and said, "But I have no regrets. In this Mystic Palace, one of the fastest ways to improve profound strength is to spar with those stronger than you. Getting injured is the most normal thing. Although I was a bit careless, it also lets them understand and adapt to this reality early on. Compared to the injuries we suffer when sparring with fellow disciples from the Inner Palace, his injuries are nothing. If he can't even endure this much, then he has no qualification to enter our Cangfeng Mystic Palace."
Instructor Qi furrowed his brow but didn't say anything more.
"Heh, you've got some nerve saying that so high-mindedly," Yun Che sneered inwardly as he caught Ao Yan's cold smile and recalled the unusual exchange of glances between them earlier. He understood everything clearly. This was plainly Ao Yan using Feng Yue to take revenge on Yun Fan—all because Yun Fan had cursed at him earlier.
Since they had retaliated against Yun Fan, he himself certainly wouldn't be left out.
Just as he was about to speak, a hand suddenly trembled and rested on his. Yun Fan gritted his teeth, struggling with all his might to sit up, his voice filled with pain: "Brother Yun... I... I'm fine... The evaluation isn't over yet... I'm fine... fine..."
Through his struggle, Yun Fan actually forced his upper body upright. With internal injuries and three broken ribs, completing this motion must have required immense willpower and the endurance of tremendous pain. As his upper body rose, Yun Che saw two streams of hot tears flowing from his eyes—because he understood that in his current state, he couldn't possibly continue the evaluation. Not being able to participate meant he would be unable to enter the Cangfeng Mystic Palace. His dream, along with the expectations of his entire family, would be shattered. How could he not be heartbroken and weep?
"Fan, the cause of this accident isn't your fault, so there's no reason for you to be disqualified from entering the Cangfeng Mystic Palace. Don't move now, or if your body is ruined, then you'll truly have no chance to enter the palace!" Yun Che pressed Yun Fan's struggling upper body back down, took out a Mid-level Heavenly Recovery Pill and placed it in his mouth, then stomped his foot and leaped in front of Feng Yue.
"My name is Yun Che. This time, I'll accept your 'evaluation,'" Yun Che said calmly, his gaze as still as water, devoid of any emotional trace.
"Oh? So you're Yun Che, the number one in the profound strength test for this group?" Feng Yue looked Yun Che up and down, his eyes narrowing. He showed no concern whatsoever for having just heavily injured Yun Fan.
"That's right," Yun Che said flatly. "Before we begin, I have a question to confirm with you. Just now, you said that in the Cangfeng Mystic Palace, it's perfectly normal to be heavily injured during sparring, right? So if I accidentally injure you, I won't be held responsible at all?"
The moment Yun Che said this, everyone froze. Feng Yue also paused, then burst into loud, maniacal laughter: "You... injure me? Haha... hahaha! This is the biggest joke I've heard all year. Good, very good. Someone with this level of confidence is rare indeed. Then go ahead and try to injure me. Don't just injure me—even if you killed me, it would be your skill, and absolutely no one would blame you... hahaha," he finished, finding it utterly ridiculous, and couldn't help but laugh mockingly again.
"Then I'm reassured." Yun Che gave a slight smile, his gaze gradually sharpening.
"What are you waiting for? Let's begin." Feng Yue crossed his arms over his chest, looking at Yun Che as if he were an idiot. He said arrogantly and disdainfully, "Since you're so delusional about injuring me, I'll give you a chance. I'll stand right here without moving and let you attack me for three moves. If I move or get injured, from now on, I'll walk backward wherever you are. But if I stand still and you can't injure me with your three moves, heh, then get the hell out of the Cangfeng Mystic Palace obediently. And before you leave, I might even send you a 'big gift'."
Yun Che's originally tense brow relaxed completely. He tapped his nose and said, half-smiling, "Are you sure?"