Chapter 142: Sweeping Them Away
“Senior Brother Kui… Kui Yang!”
The other three disciples were stunned by the sudden scene. None of them expected Yun Che to suddenly make a move, and his speed was like a ghost, leaving them no chance to react. What shocked them even more was that Kui Yang, who had the strength of the True Xuan Realm, was heavily injured by a single strike. The large spray of blood was shocking to the eye. After landing on the ground, his entire body twitched and he couldn’t stand up for a long time.
“How dare you… how dare you ambush Senior Brother Kui Yang! Let’s go together and cripple him!” Han Feng’s face twisted ferociously as he drew a longsword and rushed forward together with another disciple. One sword stabbed towards his chest, the other slashed towards his crown.
“Brother-in-law, be careful!”
As Xia Yuanba shouted in alarm, he heard a “crack” sound. The longsword in Han Feng’s hand was shattered by a single kick from Yun Che. The other disciple’s longsword was directly snatched away by Yun Che’s bare hand. Then he threw two punches simultaneously, solidly striking both of their chests.
Crack!
Both of their chests caved in at the same time, their sternums snapped, and then they flew out with agonized screams, crashing heavily against the wall just like Kui Yang.
The remaining disciple was initially about to act, but Yun Che had turned those two into dead dogs in just a single exchange. The sight made the disciple’s pupils contract and his whole body shiver. He didn’t dare to advance; instead, he let out a strange cry and fled towards the door like a terrified rat. Yun Che turned around, his eyes icy cold, and suddenly extended his left hand. A blazing fire dragon shot out from his palm and instantly coiled around the disciple. With a pull of his arm, the disciple was flung back by the fire dragon amidst terrified screams, crashing viciously against the wall along with the other three.
“Brother-in-law…” Xia Yuanba, standing in the corner, was completely stunned. He knew the profound strength of these four men well: Kui Yang was at the first level of True Xuan Realm, Han Feng was at the ninth level of Entry Xuan Realm, and the other two were both at the eighth level of Entry Xuan Realm. To him, their strength was something he could only look up to and yearn for. Although he suffered humiliation here, he dared not resist, nor did he have the ability to resist, and he dared not tell Yun Che, because he was afraid that Yun Che would act impulsively on his behalf… How could Yun Che possibly defeat these four men?
But he never expected that his brother-in-law had become so powerful. These four men were like a pile of trash before him, beaten into dead dogs with a casual wave of his hand.
“Yun Che, you… you… you’re finished!” Han Feng sat up, supporting himself against the cracked wall, and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Although Yun Che’s terrifying strength made him unsettled, he forced a cold sneer: “You actually injured a disciple of the Outer Palace… Tutor Qi is Senior Brother Kui Yang’s uncle. You injured Senior Brother Kui Yang… Tutor Qi won’t let you off. Just wait until your legs are broken and you’re kicked out of the Cangfeng Mystic Palace!”
The killing intent on Yun Che’s body had not abated at all. The entire cultivation room was as cold as a winter frost, making the four people lying on the ground shiver all over. He completely ignored what Han Feng was saying and slowly walked towards Kui Yang, who was vomiting blood heavily. Seeing him approach, Kui Yang’s face showed a look of fear, but he quickly suppressed it and forced a smile: “Yun Che, if you kneel down and apologize now, I can still consider going easy on you… Otherwise… my uncle… will definitely make your life worse than death…”
Yun Che looked at him sideways and said in a low voice: “The foot you used to kick Yuanba just now… it was your right foot, right?”
As his voice fell, before anyone could react, Yun Che suddenly raised his foot and mercilessly stamped down on Kui Yang’s right ankle.
“Crack!!”
“Ahhh~~~~”
Amidst a guttural scream like a pig being slaughtered, Kui Yang’s right ankle was ruthlessly crushed by Yun Che. Yun Che slowly withdrew his foot, his expression as calm as if he had merely stepped on a withered stalk of grass. He watched coldly as Kui Yang dragged his right foot, rolling and wailing in agony on the ground. Then he turned his head and looked at the other three disciples.
When Yun Che’s gaze swept over them, the faces of Han Feng and the other two instantly turned deathly pale… They had thought that for Yun Che to dare injure someone here was already extremely audacious, and that mentioning the relationship between Kui Yang and Tutor Qi would intimidate him. But they never expected that not only was Yun Che’s strength terrifyingly beyond their expectations, but his methods were also so decisive and vicious. He could so unhesitatingly crush Kui Yang’s foot… If he wanted to cripple them, or even take their lives, he definitely wouldn’t bat an eye.
Han Feng no longer dared to speak a single harsh word. He was scared stiff, trembling all over. When Yun Che walked toward him, his body went limp and he collapsed to the ground, pleading in terror: “Y-Y-Yun Che, I… I know I was wrong. Spare me… don’t kill me… don’t kill me… spare me…” He suddenly remembered the conditions Yun Che had mentioned earlier, and frantically pulled out all the pills from his body, then started kowtowing desperately in Xia Yuanba’s direction: “Junior Brother Yuanba, I was wrong… I shouldn’t have treated you like that… I am an animal, a bastard, I deserve to die… Please must forgive me, I won’t dare do it again, never again…”
Han Feng kowtowed more than a dozen times, making the floor thud loudly. The other two disciples also hurriedly knelt down, took out all the pills they had, and kowtowed on the ground like pounding garlic.
Yun Che’s eyes turned cold and mocking. He shifted his gaze back to Kui Yang and said coldly: “And yours? Or do you not want your hands either?”
Since he had unhesitatingly crushed his ankle, breaking his hands would be even easier. Kui Yang, though in excruciating pain as if falling into an abyss, still had his wits about him. He rolled and scrambled towards Xia Yuanba, banging his head loudly against the floor, then extended a trembling hand and handed over all the pills on him.
Yun Che walked over, collected all the pills they had handed over, and said coldly: “For the sake of you being somewhat obedient, I’ll spare your four dog lives for now. If you ever dare bully Xia Yuanba again, I’ll make you regret being born into this world.”
“We won’t dare, we won’t dare ever again. From now on, we will treat Yuanba like our own father… we won’t dare again…” Han Feng said in terror.
“Then, what will you say about today’s events?” Yun Che’s eyes narrowed, his gaze filled with killing intent.
“It’s… it’s that we injured each other while sparring… it has nothing to do with Junior Brother Yuanba and Junior Brother Yun Che…” Han Feng said tremblingly.
“Hmph!” Yun Che let out a cold snort and said lightly: “I don’t want to hear any rumors I don’t like outside. Otherwise, I will take your lives at any time.”
The four, including Han Feng, were silent as cicadas in winter… After the terrifying strength and vicious methods he had just displayed, they dared not doubt his words.
“But even if you do spread it around, it doesn’t matter,” Yun Che sneered contemptuously. “Do you know why Mansion Master Qin allowed me to go directly to the Inner Palace? Do you really think Mansion Master Qin would break a thousand-year precedent for a seemingly one-sided duel? Let me tell you the truth: the relationship between Mansion Master Qin and me is something you could never dream of. If any rumors do come up, it won’t be me who gets punished. Instead, you all might very well vanish from this world with no evidence left behind… Yuanba, come out with me.”
After saying this, Yun Che turned around and left the cultivation room with heavy footsteps, leaving the four severely injured men shivering and terrified.
Yun Che’s final words were, of course, a made-up bluff, but he believed it was enough to create a huge deterrent for these four men. Otherwise, if they spread the word about what happened today, he wouldn’t care, but he was afraid it would affect Xia Yuanba’s future in the Cangfeng Mystic Palace.
Xia Yuanba hung his head, following behind Yun Che like a child who had done something wrong. Yun Che led him under a large tree before stopping, then turned around to look at Xia Yuanba.
“Um… Brother-in-law, I-I-I was wrong.” Xia Yuanba said softly, timidly, his head lowered.
“Sigh…” Yun Che let out a long sigh and handed all the pills he had obtained from Kui Yang and the others to Xia Yuanba. “Keep these. Although they’re not high-grade pills, they are just right for you now.”
Yun Che actually had many pills refined using the Heavenly Poison Pearl, but most were high-grade or special, and not usable by Xia Yuanba.
Xia Yuanba took them, then nervously shrank his head back again and stammered: “Brother-in-law, I know I was wrong. Please don’t be angry with me. I… I didn’t mean to deceive you. I was afraid of distracting you. What if I delayed the duel two months from now, I…”
Yun Che shook his head and lightly patted Xia Yuanba’s arm. “Yuanba, I’m actually not at all surprised that you’ve been bullied here. Your profound strength is too weak. Perhaps letting you stay at the Cangfeng Mystic Palace was a wrong decision, since your profound strength level is too far behind in this sacred land of cultivation. But I won’t make you leave the Cangfeng Mystic Palace because of this. On the contrary, I hope you can persist and stay here. Yuanba, in this world, the only people who won’t be bullied are the strong. If you are strong enough, no one will dare bully you, and no one will have the ability to bully you. Those four pieces of trash dared to treat you like that because they are stronger than you, and much stronger. If you don’t want to be bullied anymore, then become strong. Become stronger than them, stronger than everyone.”
“I know!” Xia Yuanba clenched his fists. “I’ll definitely use you as my model and work hard!”
“That’s not the point.” Yun Che shook his head, then said seriously: “I hope you understand more that a person can have weak profound strength, can even be soft, can be looked down upon, but you must not lose your dignity and fighting spirit! I’m not angry that you hid these things from me… I know you were thinking of me, afraid of causing me trouble. What makes me angry is… why did you let yourself be bullied without fighting back or resisting? Even if you knew you were no match for the other party!”
“I… I didn’t dare… Brother-in-law, I know I was wrong. I won’t be like this in the future.” Xia Yuanba lowered his head even further, his face full of guilt.
Yun Che let out a long breath and sighed helplessly in his heart. He knew Xia Yuanba’s temperament all too well. Although he had an overly burly build, his nature was simple and kind, mixed with a bit of the weakness that any immature youth would have. After all, he was not yet sixteen.
And it was even more impossible to change his nature with just a few words.
“Yuanba, let me take a look at your profound vein.”
“Ah? Oh.”
When one’s profound strength reached the True Xuan Realm, they could, with the other’s permission, look inside the other’s body with their profound strength. Yun Che stood before Xia Yuanba, placed his hand on his chest, and slowly closed his eyes. After a moment, he moved his hand away from Xia Yuanba’s chest. His expression was calm, but inside he was greatly surprised.
That was because Xia Yuanba’s profound vein was truly too strange. It was more than twice as thick as an ordinary person’s profound vein, with a strange, greyish-black color. Moreover, the position of his profound gate was completely different from normal people, as if it were a unique mutant variety.
Why was Yuanba’s profound vein like this? Could this be the “Overlord Emperor Profound Meridian” that Mo Li had mentioned before?
This profound meridian had such a domineering name, but why was it so weak?