Chapter 190: Poison Kill
Under Yun Che's care, although Chu Yuechan's meridians had not yet recovered, her physical condition had improved significantly. Her face, which had been as pale as paper, now showed a faint trace of color. However, her entire body remained paralyzed, with only her right arm and hand able to move within a small range. In this extremely dangerous place, Yun Che stayed by her side every moment to protect her.
Chu Yuechan could not eat too much per meal; a small bowl of fish soup was sufficient. After finishing the soup, she gently closed her eyes and leaned against Yun Che's chest, her expression calm and peaceful... Even she herself did not notice that this sense of security surpassed even the time she spent in secluded cultivation within her sect's secret realm.
During these five months, she had spent more than half of her time asleep, and even more time than that leaning against Yun Che's chest. From initial resistance, to gradual adaptation, to complete habituation, and after habituation, it imperceptibly developed into dependence... But Chu Yuechan was completely unaware of the concept of "dependence." Because before Yun Che, she had never been alone with any man, let alone had any intimate contact. And this time, they had been inseparable, skin to skin for nearly five months—something that was utterly unimaginable for the former Chu Yuechan.
What her state of mind was toward Yun Che at this moment, no one knew, not even herself.
"Sleep peacefully for a while. Soon, we will be able to leave this place. When that time comes, all your power can be restored." Yun Che gently patted Chu Yuechan's delicate back, his voice as soft as if he were coaxing a baby about to fall into a deep sleep.
Before long, Chu Yuechan's breathing became even and gentle, and she had drifted into a light sleep.
Yun Che put away the items at hand, stood up while holding Chu Yuechan, and looked ahead. "Mo Li, how long have we been here?"
"Today is the hundred and forty-first day," Mo Li answered accurately.
"...That means there is less than a month left until the Cang Feng Ranking Battle," Yun Che frowned, a trace of anxiety rising in his heart. He had promised Lan Xueruo that he would return within half a year, and now more than five months had passed, yet he was still trapped in this trial ground. In five months, he had adapted to this place; completing this level's trial was merely a matter of time. But to leave, he still needed to kill over ten thousand Xuan Beasts. None of these beasts could be killed casually—every single one was a genuine Spirit Xuan Beast.
Moreover, after the second level of the trial, there was a third level.
After leaving the trial ground, it would take a long time to cross the Death Wasteland. Once out of the Death Wasteland, even traveling day and night, returning to Cangfeng Imperial City would take at least five days...
If he did not leave this place as soon as possible, he would miss the Cang Feng Ranking Battle and thus fail to fulfill his promise to Lan Xueruo.
"It seems I must pick up the pace. Even if it costs me my life, I have to finish off the remaining Xuan Beasts within ten days," Yun Che said with a stern brow.
"Ten days? Hmph, what a joke! To complete the trial, you still need to eliminate sixteen thousand Xuan Beasts. To finish in ten days, you would have to kill at least sixteen hundred per day! Over these five months, your average has been six hundred per day, which is already your limit when going all out. Killing the remaining sixteen thousand in ten days is absolutely impossible... If you become anxious and rash, losing your calm, you might instead be killed by the beasts," Mo Li warned.
Yun Che had no response.
"ROAR!!"
Suddenly, a thunderous roar came from far behind him. The sound made Yun Che frown, and he silently cursed, "Damn! Why is it that guy again? He's like a haunting spirit!"
With that, Yun Che didn't think twice and immediately broke into a run. Before long, a huge horned beast burst out from where he had been standing, charging after him with a gust of wind.
Although he had been here for nearly five months, spending every day in combat with beasts far above his level, Yun Che's profound strength remained at the fourth level of the True Xuan Realm. It was not that his profound strength showed no signs of breaking through; on the contrary, he had been forcefully suppressing it, refusing to let it breakthrough. Because when his profound strength broke through, he would be immobile for a short period and could not be disturbed by anything, otherwise it could easily damage his profound veins. In this endless wasteland full of dangers, he would have no one to guard him during his breakthrough, and Chu Yuechan would also be in the same dangerous situation. Therefore, he had been firmly suppressing the breakthrough.
Otherwise, with his daily cross-level combat and his fifty-four profound passes fully open, it would not be an exaggeration to say that his profound strength could have risen to the eighth level of the True Xuan Realm in five months.
Although he had not broken through, the suppressed profound force had grown increasingly thick. Even without the four divine powers, his profound force far surpassed that of an ordinary True Xuan fourth-level cultivator.
The beast chasing him was called the Overlord Unicorn Beast, a sixth-level Spirit Xuan Beast. It possessed immense strength and an extremely tough body, coupled with a thick profound force for protection. Even with the Long Que, Yun Che found it difficult to harm. If Yun Che did not have Chu Yuechan with him, he could have maneuvered against it. But since he had to hold Chu Yuechan with one arm and could only wield his sword with the other, he was no match for this Overlord Unicorn Beast.
So whenever he encountered this creature, Yun Che turned and ran.
Star God Remnant Shadow was a movement technique for instant displacement, not a sustained speed-boosting technique, so it could not significantly increase Yun Che's movement speed. However, he usually carried an eight-thousand-jin heavy sword. When he wanted to flee, he only needed to toss the heavy sword into the Heavenly Poison Pearl, and his body would feel so light it almost floated on its own. Running became incredibly fast, and shaking off the Overlord Unicorn Beast was a matter of moments.
Yun Che ran at full speed, the ground flying backward beneath his feet, leaving the Overlord Unicorn Beast further and further behind. Just then, Mo Li's warning voice echoed in his mind: "Be careful, there's a cliff ahead!"
As Mo Li's voice faded, a cliff appeared in Yun Che's line of sight. He furrowed his brows, sharply reduced his speed, and stamped his feet firmly on the ground. After a long slide, he barely managed to stop at the edge of the cliff. But then, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking down, the cliff was not very high—less than fifty zhang. He could easily jump down. Below the cliff was not a dangerous place, but a dense forest... or rather, a forest, for the sea of trees stretched endlessly to the sky, with no visible boundary even from this height.
"A forest in a plain region? That's unusual," Yun Che muttered casually. Just as he was about to jump down, a dangerous gust of wind came from his right.
Yun Che's gaze shifted, and his right hand shot out like lightning, his two fingers firmly clamping down on a slippery, cold object.
It was a black line snake, less than half a finger thick and not very long. Yun Che had firmly grasped it by the spot seven inches from its head. It writhed and struggled painfully, its black forked tongue flicking out.
"Emperor Black Line Snake!" Yun Che, who knew all poisons under heaven, recognized the venomous snake at a glance.
The Emperor Black Line Snake was thin and short, its body fragile. Even a careless child stepping on it could crush it to death. Yet this fragile little snake bore the title "Emperor" and was a genuine Spirit Xuan Beast! Because although it was fragile, it possessed terrifyingly deadly poison and incredible speed. If its venomous fangs touched a being below the Spirit Xuan Realm, whether human or beast, death would come within ten breaths. Even a Spirit Xuan cultivator, if bitten, would struggle to last half an hour without an antidote. Coupled with its small size, which made it hard to spot, and its movement like a black lightning bolt, it was nearly impossible to defend against. Any Spirit Xuan Beast, and even Earth Xuan Beasts, would give it a wide berth.
With the Heavenly Poison Pearl on his person, even if bitten, Yun Che would be completely unaffected. He stared at the Emperor Black Line Snake, then turned around to face the approaching Overlord Unicorn Beast. He transferred the snake from his right hand to his left, used the Heavenly Poison Pearl to instantly extract all its venom, then tossed the snake aside. He took out the Hu Po sword, which he had not used for a while, and coated the tip with the venom.
"...After the poison power of the Heavenly Poison Pearl disappeared, this is probably the first time I've used poison," Yun Che muttered as he looked at the sword tip. The tragic scenes of poison spreading through an entire city and corpses littering the ground flashed through his mind, and his eyes dimmed for a moment. Then, his body moved like a gale, charging straight at the Overlord Unicorn Beast.
Seeing that this human, who usually fled at the sight of it, was now taking the initiative to charge, the Overlord Unicorn Beast was stunned for a moment. Then it roared, bared its fangs, and pounced toward Yun Che.
Swoosh!
The Overlord Unicorn Beast's claws tore through an afterimage of Yun Che. His true form shifted horizontally, charging from its left side, and with profound force condensed on the Hu Po sword, he slashed a deep gash on its left flank—a wound about two inches long, deep enough to draw blood.
Yun Che stopped, put away the Hu Po sword, and replaced it with the Long Que.
For the Overlord Unicorn Beast's massive body, this wound was practically nothing. It turned around, opened its huge mouth wide, and lunged again. But halfway through the charge, its front legs suddenly buckled. Its entire body crashed heavily to the ground and began convulsing. It thrashed its limbs, trying to stand, but could not. Gradually, it began to emit agonized roars... From the small wound, drops of pitch-black blood oozed out slowly.
Yun Che rushed forward and smashed through its profound force defense, which had been weakened by the poison, with a single strike. Then he pounded its head seven or eight times until it fell silent.
"I wonder when the Heavenly Poison Pearl's poison power will recover," Yun Che sighed involuntarily. With just a little poison, he had effortlessly taken down an Overlord Unicorn Beast that he previously could only flee from. He knew better than anyone the terror of poison. Back then, at less than thirty years old, he had survived a full seven years of being hunted across the entire continent, relying solely on the Heavenly Poison Pearl's power. Under its heavenly poison, countless cultivators far stronger than him, even peerless experts, had died by his hand.
"If the Heavenly Poison Pearl's poison power were still intact, in this trial ground, with a cloud of heavenly poison, forget ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine Xuan Beasts—even if the number were ten times that, they could all be poisoned to death in a single night," Yun Che said emotionally.
As a Xuantian Supreme Treasure, the Heavenly Poison Pearl's heaven-defying nature was far from limited to refinement.
Wait... a cloud of heavenly poison?
Yun Che's spirit suddenly lifted. His gaze fell upon the endless forest below the cliff. A moment later, a slow smile spread across his face.
"Mo Li, do you believe that if we're lucky, we might leave this place today?"
...