# Chapter 189: Endless Pursuit
Cang Yue smiled faintly and said, "Thank you for your concern, Young Master Fen. Cang Yue is doing just fine, there's no need for you to worry. May I ask what brings Young Master Fen here today?"
Cang Shuo had just stated very bluntly that Fen Juecheng's only purpose in coming was to see her. Cang Yue, however, acted as if she hadn't understood.
Fen Juecheng also smiled slightly, speaking gently and straightforwardly: "I've heard that Princess has been training at various branch mystic palaces these past two years. While I've been worried about you, I've also been deeply admiring. Though I dream of being able to see you more often, I feared disturbing you, so I've kept my feelings repressed. Now that I can finally see you again, I am truly overjoyed. Princess is even more beautiful and elegant than two years ago—legends of celestial maidens descending to earth are nothing compared to you. In my eyes, the Princess's beauty is a divine gift bestowed upon the Cangfeng Imperial Clan, and indeed the entire Cang Feng Empire."
As he spoke, Fen Juecheng's affection and infatuation were laid bare, naked and without concealment. Princess Cang Yue, however, seemed completely oblivious to it all, still responding with a faint smile: "Young Master Fen flatters me. Cang Yue cannot accept such praise."
"I thank Young Master Fen on behalf of my imperial sister for the compliment. I too deeply agree that my sister is the imperial clan's precious jewel." Cang Shuo said with a grin. His gaze shifted, and he subtly signaled to the attendant behind him. The attendant immediately understood, stepped forward, and pretended to whisper something in his ear.
"Oh?" Cang Shuo showed surprise, then turned to Fen Juecheng apologetically: "Young Master Fen, I suddenly recall an urgent matter I haven't yet handled. I must excuse myself for a moment... Imperial Sister, Young Master Fen hasn't visited the palace in a long time. Why don't you accompany him for a stroll through the palace grounds?"
"Please forgive Cang Yue for declining." No sooner had Cang Shuo finished speaking than Cang Yue directly refused: "It's not that I'm unwilling, but Father issued an edict earlier instructing me to go to his bedchamber at this hour to discuss important matters. I dare not defy Father's command. I hope Brother and Young Master Fen will not take offense. Cang Yue takes her leave now."
With that, Cang Yue gave a slight nod and walked without hesitation toward the exit of Lanyue Palace.
Cang Shuo's brows furrowed deeply. Fen Juecheng, however, only smiled calmly. As Cang Yue passed by his side, he suddenly turned and said, "Princess, upon arriving at the palace, I happened to hear that you have been searching with great effort for a rare flower called the 'Soul-Burning Flower.' May I ask if you have found it yet? If not, I happen to know where one can be found."
Fen Juecheng's arrival had already made Cang Yue uneasy and uncomfortable all over, and she only wanted to leave as quickly as possible. His words made her entire body stiffen, freezing her retreating footsteps firmly in place. She turned around and said in as calm a tone as she could manage: "Is what Young Master Fen says true? Cang Yue is indeed searching for a Soul-Burning Flower. If Young Master Fen knows where one can be found, I would be grateful if you could tell me. Cang Yue would be eternally indebted."
Fen Juecheng smiled and said: "Of course I would not refuse a request from Princess Cang Yue. The Soul-Burning Flower I know of happens to be located in my Fen Tian Sect's training ground—the Blazing Sun Heavenly Domain."
Cang Yue's heart leaped. Suppressing her excitement, she said: "That's wonderful. May I ask if your sect would be willing to transfer that Soul-Burning Flower to our imperial clan? The price or conditions of transfer are yours to name."
Fen Juecheng's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Cang Yue's supremely beautiful and noble features and figure with near-greedy intensity. Lowering his voice, he said: "This matter, I cannot decide on my own. In the Blazing Sun Heavenly Domain, only one Soul-Burning Flower has grown in a thousand years. The entire sect regards it as a supreme treasure and would never transfer it to others. However..."
Fen Juecheng paused, his smile becoming even more leisurely: "If the person seeking the Soul-Burning Flower were someone from within our sect, and truly in urgent need of it, then with me, the future sect master, personally interceding on their behalf, I believe my father and the elders are not so stubborn and inflexible as to refuse accommodation."
Fen Juecheng's words seemed gentle and subtle, but were actually straightforward with a hint of coercion—making an outsider become part of the Fen Tian Sect, either as a disciple or by marrying into the sect.
Cang Yue's proud chest rose and fell slightly. But then, she slowly shook her head: "Since the Soul-Burning Flower is so precious to your sect, then Cang Yue will not covet it. Thank you for the information, Young Master Fen. Farewell."
Cang Yue's decisive and resolute reaction caught Fen Juecheng off guard. His expression stiffened as he watched her retreating figure, his brows gradually sinking.
"This imperial sister of mine—her nature is still just as stubborn," Cang Shuo spoke up. His words and demeanor toward Fen Juecheng now carried a faint trace of deference.
"Even more stubborn than before," Fen Juecheng laughed, as if mocking himself or venting anger. "At least back then, even when she rejected me, she was tactful. Now, she's so forceful, as if telling me to abandon all fantasies."
"Young Master Fen needn't be so pessimistic," Cang Shuo quickly consoled him. "In terms of strength, appearance, status, and position, which young talent in the entire Cang Feng Empire can compare with you? Cang Yue is still young. There are some things she hasn't yet come to terms with. I believe it won't be long before, without you even having to pursue her, she'll come to you of her own accord." Here, Cang Shuo hesitated for a moment before continuing: "I do have some idea why Cang Yue's attitude has suddenly become so resolute."
"Oh?" Fen Juecheng's gaze shifted.
Cang Shuo said: "According to what I've heard, during this time, Cang Yue has not only been searching for the Soul-Burning Flower everywhere, but also for a person—someone she personally brought back from New Moon City. I'm told that in the few months after she brought him back, she got very close to him... But rest assured, Young Master Fen, that person disappeared five months ago. It seems he overestimated himself and entered the Death Wasteland, and hasn't come out since. After his disappearance, I heard from the palace maids attending Cang Yue that she shed tears several times and couldn't eat or sleep..."
"What is that person's name!"
"Yun Che... very young, only seventeen this year, but with extraordinary talent. Cang Lin and I both tried to recruit him into our own factions."
"Hmph!" Fen Juecheng's brows locked tightly together, an astonishingly dense aura of murderous intent surging from his entire body. "The woman this young master has set his sights on, and someone dares to covet her... He'd better be dead. Otherwise, I'll make him wish he were dead but can't die!"
The sudden burst of anger emanating from Fen Juecheng made Cang Shuo shiver all over. Cang Shuo's personal guards stared wide-eyed, trembling in shock. Because Fen Juecheng's profound aura... had clearly reached the Earth Xuan Realm!
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**Dragon God Trial Grounds, Endless Plains.**
This was also the fifth month since Yun Che had entered here.
Ahead, a small stream flowed with gurgling water, crystal clear to the bottom. In the clear water, fish of various colors and shapes swam cheerfully.
Yun Che gently set Chu Yuechan down on the soft grass by the stream, then crouched by the bank, looking at the fish in the water. Grinning, he said, "Little Fairy, we can have fish soup again... Hmm, what flavor fish soup should we have today?"
As his voice fell, Yun Che's left hand shot into the water like lightning, grabbing a fish nearly a foot long. At that moment, a river stone to his right suddenly shifted, and a giant crab, half the size of Yun Che's body, sprang up. Its enormous pitch-black pincer opened wide, snapping toward Yun Che's neck... The barbs on that crab claw gleamed coldly. Even steel, let alone a person's neck, would be snapped in two by that grip.
Yun Che tossed the fish in his left hand onto the grass. Without even looking up, his right hand shot out like lightning, grabbing the edge of the crab claw. With a flex of his arm, he flung the entire murderous giant crab toward a nearby river stone.
Yun Che's arm strength was nothing short of terrifying. With a thunderous "BOOM," the river stone shattered into pieces. The giant crab was also stunned half-conscious. This commotion stirred up a hornet's nest. Over a dozen murderous giant crabs sprang up simultaneously, their pincers like opened guillotines, gleaming coldly as they sliced in. Yun Che pulled out Dragon Gate in a flash. His body moved, instantly splitting into three afterimages at three different positions—completely indistinguishable to the naked eye. The eight-thousand-jin Dragon Gate was as light as a feather in his hands. In just a few breaths, he struck over a dozen times, each blow landing heavily on a giant crab's back.
Murderous giant crabs were dangerous profound beasts at the second level of the Spirit Xuan Realm. They possessed terrifying pincers, and their shells were incredibly hard, difficult even for ordinary Spirit Xuan Realm profound practitioners to injure. But after Yun Che's round of heavy strikes, thirteen explosive sounds overlapped, and the shells of all thirteen giant crabs cracked open. Wild profound force surged in, severing their lifelines instantly.
With a flick of his wrist, Dragon Gate returned to Yun Che's back. To fully adapt to Dragon Gate's weight, after cultivating Star God Remnant Shadow to the second level, he kept Dragon Gate strapped to his back at all times.
"Eighty-three thousand nine hundred and forty-seven." With the deaths of these thirteen giant crabs, the number in Yun Che's mind refreshed as well. Looking at the dead crabs lying on the ground with their legs in the air, Yun Che pinched his chin and muttered, "I wonder if these big crabs can be made into soup..."
Yun Che ultimately abandoned this tempting thought. Carrying the fish, he walked back to Chu Yuechan's side. Then he set up a stove on the grass, poured in stream water and the fish, and lit the fire... If the Phoenix Divine Beast knew that the most frequent use Yun Che made of the Phoenix blood was to cook meals with Phoenix Flame, it would probably burn him to ashes in a fit of rage.
No sooner had the fire started than trouble came piling in. The grass beneath his feet trembled faintly and unnaturally. Before the thing underground could emerge, Yun Che's hand plunged into the earth, yanking out an Ironhide Earth Dragon, a Spirit Xuan Beast that had been about to attack. He then twisted its body into a dead knot in a few moves and tossed it far away... Pitiful Ironhide Earth Dragon, a low-level Spirit Xuan Beast with a body hard as refined steel, was like an ordinary hemp rope in Yun Che's hands. Although Yun Che's profound force level was low, his arm strength was something even high-level Spirit Xuan practitioners could never match.
The Ironhide Earth Dragon, tied into a dead knot, twitched chaotically on the grass. Before long, its blood flow reversed course, and it could no longer move.
"Eighty-three thousand nine hundred and forty-eight." Yun Che muttered softly. No sooner had he finished than his arm suddenly swung upward. A Phoenix Flame shot out, blasting down two Storm Raptors that were about to dive from above.
Now, after five months of integration, his Phoenix Break could be executed not only with a heavy sword but also with his arm. Because his arm could also be regarded as a heavy sword.
With the scorching heat of the Phoenix Flame, the fish soup was ready in less than sixty breaths.
Ladling out the fish soup, Yun Che carefully blew it cool, then came to the Little Fairy's side. Supporting her upper body, he brought the small bowl to her lips: "Here, it's not hot anymore."
Chu Yuechan opened her beautiful eyes, parted her tender lips, and with very little strength, took small sips of the fish soup. Just as she swallowed the first mouthful, strange cries came from the sky. Six large, long-tailed, entirely green-and-blue strange birds swooped down from different directions, straight at Yun Che.
Yun Che didn't even look up. His left hand swept upward, snatching Dragon Gate. Locking onto the positions of the six green birds, he swung Dragon Gate six times within two breaths. On the third breath, he had already returned Dragon Gate to his back.
Chirp chirp chirp chirp...
Amid chaotic phoenix cries, six Phoenix Break blasts shot into the sky, accurately striking the six diving green birds, sending them flying one by one. Throughout the entire process, not a single drop of fish soup spilled from the small bowl. Chu Yuechan was not frightened either, her snow-white lips never leaving the bowl. By the time all six birds had fallen, half the soup in the bowl had been drunk.
Because this kind of situation had been happening every day for five months. They were long accustomed to it. She trusted completely that Yun Che would defend them perfectly.
Five months. They had been under attack from various profound beasts almost every moment, sometimes more, sometimes less, but almost never an interruption. The "sleepless nights and restless meals" that the Primordial Azure Dragon had spoken of earlier was not an exaggeration or a scare tactic.
The difficulty of this trial was more than ten times that of the first trial. The horror lay not in the profound beasts' excessively high levels or their astonishing numbers, but in the unceasing attacks! From the ground, underground, water, and air—profound beasts could strike at any moment. Even a single second of relaxed vigilance could mean death. In such circumstances, holding out for a day or two might be easy, three or four days barely manageable. But any longer—even if the body could endure, the mind would collapse... For an ordinary person, even with twice Yun Che's profound force, it would be nearly impossible to persist.
But for Yun Che specifically, the difficulty of this trial was no greater than the first.
Because his previous life had been spent in a state of pursuit. The endless plains' pursuit by profound beasts was certainly terrifying, but in his previous life, he had endured the pursuit of every supreme sect and every supreme expert under heaven! And it had lasted a full seven years. Across those seven years, his alertness, perception, reaction speed, and counter-pursuit abilities had been tempered to an extreme, terrifying level.
After his rebirth, these abilities had few opportunities to manifest. But in this endless wasteland's endless pursuit by profound beasts, these abilities were reawakened.