Chapter 1989: Trampling
This sudden "turn of events" was first noticed by Helian Lingzhu.
She almost instantly shifted her body, blocking Zhai Liancheng and Xi Menqi's view of Yun Che. "He... he is merely a guard of this princess."
"Yun Che, withdraw at once!"
"A guard?" Zhai Liancheng raised an eyebrow. "With such fair skin and delicate features, I'd say he's the elder princess's kept man. Oh? And he's actually a Divine Sovereign."
"You... nonsense! No! Of course not!" In her panic, Helian Lingzhu was already stumbling over her words. She hurriedly ordered again, "Yun Che, step back immediately!"
But Zhai Liancheng suddenly reached out, and an invisible wall of force blocked Yun Che's path. "First answer Young Master Xi—what are you laughing at?"
Helian Lingzhu was about to cover for Yun Che again when she heard him speak calmly: "I'm not laughing at anything. I just remembered something amusing."
His explanation was light and casual, with not a trace of fear or cowering, but instead a nonchalant expression. For Zhai Liancheng and Xi Menqi, who were basking in their own authority, this was nothing less than a provocation against their might.
Zhai Liancheng laughed, a leisurely yet dangerous laugh. "What amusing thing? Spit it out so Young Master Xi and I can have a laugh too."
"Heh!" Yun Che's lips curled, and he let out an unabashedly derisive sneer. "What? You want me to spell it out clearly for you?"
"What I'm laughing at, of course, are two ignorant, shameless little clowns."
"Is that answer satisfactory to you both?"
Helian Lingzhu's face instantly went pale, and Mo Cangying was so shocked that even his wild spiritual energy stalled.
Zhai Liancheng and Xi Menqi's faces both froze simultaneously, but only for an instant. Then their lips curled at the same time, and the expressions that spread across their faces were not rage, but a deep, savoring amusement, tinged with a hint of excitement.
After all, who doesn't enjoy slapping down and trampling on arrogant fools? Who doesn't like a plaything that delivers itself right to your doorstep?
"Yun Che..." Helian Lingzhu's voice trembled noticeably. "Have you... lost your mind? They are... they are..."
"Courting death!" Mo Cangying muttered, a deep sense of powerlessness washing over his heart.
"Hehehehe, good, very good!" Zhai Liancheng's gaze swept over Yun Che several times. Upon closer inspection, his expression shifted slightly, and a trace of envy rose in his heart.
The beings of the Abyss live their entire lives under the constant erosion of Abyssal Dust, and their bodies often carry a pallid, withered aura, with skin that is dark and rough.
But the person before him had features as finely carved as jade, eyes as deep and profound as a pitch-black abyss, skin like fine gemstone, brows like sharp swords, and long hair dyed by the darkness of night.
A few shallow marks were etched into his face, clearly unhealed wounds, yet they did not detract from his brilliance; instead, they added a touch of eerie charm to his already ethereal and transcendent appearance.
He was simply the most perfect... pretty boy he had ever seen in his life!
Envy easily breeds hatred, and from that hatred arose a fierce desire to cruelly torment, even though there was originally no enmity between them.
"Helian Nation Lord, your daughter really has found herself a fine guard." He laughed, his smile growing increasingly playful and dangerous.
Helian Jue took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "He..."
He wanted to say that Yun Che was not Helian Lingzhu's guard and had no connection whatsoever to the Helian imperial clan. But Helian Lingzhu had already frantically "confirmed" Yun Che's status as a guard. If he denied it now, it would only seem like a cover-up. So he steeled himself and changed his tune: "This child only arrived in Linyuan Realm not long ago. His origins are unclear, and he is only temporarily serving as Lingzhu's guard. He has not been formally registered."
"His words and actions have nothing to do with the imperial clan. Whatever the two of you decide to do with him, you have full discretion."
Helian Lingzhu's eyes widened. "Father..."
"Yun Che, get lost now!" Helian Jue roared.
Yun Che sneered inwardly... This spineless nation lord sure knows how to put on a show of authority now.
"Get lost? Where do you think you're going?" Xi Menqi raised an eyebrow. "You've insulted me and the Rock Mystery Sect's young master. Do you think you can still get away?"
Helian Lingzhu gritted her teeth but persisted, "Young Master Zhai, Young Master Xi, Yun Che is just an outsider. He knows nothing about Rock Mystery Sect or Worship Qilin Sect. As they say, ignorance is blameless. This princess... will immediately expel him from Linyuan Realm and ensure he never appears before you two again."
"Hahahaha!" Zhai Liancheng burst into laughter. "The esteemed elder princess of the imperial clan, shielding a so-called 'outsider' and 'guard' like this? It seems you are quite fond of this pretty boy. I bet you enjoy his company every night and sing his praises all day!"
"Aiyo, Brother Cangying, the woman you've been groveling after for years has probably long been played out by this pretty boy, haha..."
He suddenly remembered that Helian Lingzhu was the woman Xi Menqi had set his sights on and was determined to win, so he forcefully swallowed the rest of his wild laughter.
As the Helian elder princess, Helian Lingzhu had never heard such humiliating words. She trembled all over. "You... you..."
Mo Cangying knew full well that Yun Che and Helian Lingzhu had only just met and had no deep connection, but still, hot blood surged to his head, and his face instantly turned as red as blood.
This was not entirely due to his anger at Zhai Liancheng's humiliation of Helian Lingzhu, but also because... in his eyes, Helian Lingzhu's repeated proactive approach and protection of Yun Che was indeed "crossing the line."
He stepped forward, about to speak, when he heard Yun Che's voice from behind, as nonchalant as before:
"So? What are you two clowns going to do to me?"
If his previous words could still be excused as ignorant fearlessness under the guise of naivety, then this statement was an outright provocation and contempt.
Zhai Liancheng stopped smiling, his narrowed eyes reflecting a cold, sinister light. "Are you looking for death?"
But Yun Che smiled instead. He leisurely crossed his arms over his chest and said unhurriedly, "You've got the face of a good-for-nothing, act like a bully, yet boast shamelessly that no one below the Divine Lord realm can match you. Calling you clowns is already flattering your faces. How is that looking for death?"
"..." Helian Lingzhu abruptly grabbed Yun Che's sleeve, but could only stare with trembling eyes, her lips too shocked to form words.
Mo Cangying also turned his head abruptly, staring at him in a daze.
Though it was courting death, Yun Che was doing what he wanted to do but dared not, and saying what he wanted to say but dared not.
"Heh, hehehe..." By now, Xi Menqi was truly furious. "With just those few words of yours, even if the Heavenly King were here today, no one could save you!"
"Oh?"
Faced with Xi Menqi's suddenly released killing intent, there was not a trace of fear on Yun Che's face. Instead, he unhurriedly took a step forward. "So, how do you plan to make me die?"
"Oh~~" Yun Che raised an eyebrow. "This Young Master Xi is said to be unmatched below the Divine Lord realm. We are both at the Divine Sovereign realm, so defeating me, a mere princess's guard, and killing me should be as easy as turning your hand, right?"
He was half a foot taller than Xi Menqi, and as he approached, his line of sight naturally looked down on him.
And in his eyes was clearly an undisguised look of contempt and mockery.
As if the person standing before him was not the son of the Worship Qilin Sect's sect master, but truly just a "shameful little clown" as he had called him.
Xi Menqi's expression suddenly turned somewhat ugly.
What made it even worse for him was that he inexplicably felt a sense of suffocation.
Indeed, he could never have imagined that the man standing before him was an emperor who ruled over a vast world.
His ferocity gradually escalated, twisting Xi Menqi's smile. He shook his wrist and said in a sinister tone, "People who are this eager to die are truly rare."
"Since you've delivered yourself to my doorstep, how could I not oblige you~"
The moment the words fell, his hand shot out violently, his five fingers transforming into terrifying rock blades amidst a bleak light, aiming directly for Yun Che's throat.
They were only a step apart, and Xi Menqi struck without warning.
No one had time to react, nor could anyone block it... save for a terrified shriek from Helian Lingzhu.
Boom!!
It was as if a hundred thunderclaps exploded right next to their ears.
Amidst the exploding bleak light, a figure shot out violently and slammed heavily into the wall of the royal hall.
Helian Lingzhu's shriek abruptly stopped. Zhai Liancheng's sneering smile also froze on his face, his pupils suddenly contracting.
Because what he saw was Yun Che still standing in his original spot.
His expression was still that slight smile, his posture unmoved, not even a strand of his hair had been disturbed.
Zhai Liancheng spun around abruptly... The figure that had slammed into the wall was now tumbling down in disgrace.
It was...
Xi Menqi!?
Thud!
Xi Menqi's head and knees hit the ground at the same time, his pose resembling nothing so much as a dried-up toad.
And in this ugly posture, he remained motionless for several seconds, his wide eyes blank and dazed, as if he had suddenly fallen into an absurd nightmare.
Zhai Liancheng was stunned. Helian Lingzhu, Helian Jue, and Mo Cangying were all frozen in place.
Xi Menqi finally awoke from the nightmare. He sprang to his feet, his gaze locked onto Yun Che, and he roared with eyes wide as if they would split, "You..."
Whoosh!
A gust of wind howled past.
Xi Menqi had only managed to shout one word when a black shadow swelled in his pupils.
Boom! Crack!
Yun Che kicked him directly on the head, and in an instant, his protective profound energy completely shattered.
His body, pulled by his head, slammed violently into the wall once more.
Rubble exploded, and the resilient wall of the royal hall directly cracked apart. Xi Menqi's head, which had been overflowing with arrogance and insolence just moments before, was kicked cleanly into the wall by Yun Che.
Only his body, dangling outside, twisted and swayed.
"So this is what they call 'unmatched below the Divine Lord realm'?"
Yun Che's sole ground down on Xi Menqi's head, which was now fully embedded in the wall, and he let out a voice dripping with the most extreme mockery. "Truly laughable enough to knock one's teeth out! Both at the Divine Sovereign realm, and yet you act like such a wretched mess against me, a mere princess's guard. And you still dare to boast so shamelessly."
"Calling you a clown is already an overstatement."
Helian Lingzhu's lips hung wide open, her eyes wide for a long time. Helian Jue even forgot the intense pain in his heart meridians.
But the most shocked and bewildered of all was Zhai Liancheng.
He knew Xi Menqi's cultivation base all too well.
Xi Menqi had been suppressed by Xi Borong for years, not allowed to break through, and many of the peerless divine medicines that Xi Boyun had brought from the Pure Land had also been used on him.
Within Linyuan Realm, no one of the same cultivation level could defeat him... that was not an empty boast.
Even the phrase "unmatched below the Divine Lord realm" had been personally praised by Xi Boyun.
And Yun Che was indeed also at the peak of the Divine Sovereign realm. How could it be...
"Gurgle... gurgle!"
A muffled, pained sound came from within the wall, followed by a nearly heart-rending scream.
Boom!!
The wall collapsed with a loud crash, and Xi Menqi, tumbling sideways, managed to free himself from under Yun Che's foot.
He staggered as he landed, blood streaming from his face and the back of his head.
He wiped his face roughly, and the full palm of blood made his gaze even more ferocious. But he felt no pain, because the humiliation and cruelty boiling madly in his heart had nearly seared every single cell in his body.
He was Xi Menqi, son of the Worship Qilin Sect's sect master, the future Worship Qilin prince.
With his outstanding talent and Xi Boyun's lavish praise, it was entirely possible that in the future, his elder brother would be set aside, and he would be made the crown prince.
And now, he had been blasted away, his head trampled underfoot... by someone of the same cultivation level, a mere guard to a fallen princess, a man who had previously not even been worthy of his notice!
Such a great humiliation, never before experienced, could never be erased even by death!
"You dogshit, you mongrel, you lowly slave!" he roared through gritted teeth, spewing the most vicious curses he could think of. "I will personally... skin you alive!"
"You?" Yun Che's gaze was nothing more than that of looking at a pitiable fool.