Chapter 2035: The Same Old Trick
By relying on Yuan Chen for his divine sense, Yun Che's perception range in the Mist Sea far surpassed even Hua Qingying's at the Divine Extreme Realm. Although he had already left Hua Caili far behind, he could still vaguely sense her existence through Yuan Chen. Finding a large enough black stone, Yun Che leaned his back against it, swept his gaze over the surrounding Abyss Beasts, concealed his aura, and waited quietly. When he closed his eyes, the image that emerged in his soul sea was Hua Caili's breathtakingly stunning sword strike.
"It's the Heaven-Breaking Sword." Li Suo's voice rang out, interrupting the repeated replay of that sword strike in his mind.
Yun Che opened his eyes and asked in surprise, "You know about it?"
From the memory fragments of Ni Xuan, a man named Mo Su had clearly mentioned the "Heaven-Breaking Ninety-Nine Swords," which had instantly made him think of the Zhe Tian Divine Kingdom.
"The sword created by Mo E."
More strands of originally blurry memories gradually became clear as they were touched upon. She spoke in a very soft, slow voice: "Heaven-Questioning Sword... Heaven-Soothing Sword... Heaven-Governing Sword... Heaven-Breaking Sword..."
"And... the Heaven-Slaying Sword." Yun Che's eyes flickered sharply. What surprised him most was not that the Zhe Tian Divine Kingdom actually cultivated the Heaven-Breaking Sword created by the Heaven-Slaying God Emperor, but the names of these sword techniques. Heaven-Questioning, Heaven-Soothing, Heaven-Governing, Heaven-Breaking, Heaven-Slaying... it was as if they were gradually closing in on the Heavenly Dao, step by step, until they annihilated it. The four Creation Gods each had their own missions bestowed by the Primordial God.
The Life Creation God's mission was to create life and protect it, the Order Creation God's was to maintain order, the Element Creation God's was to balance the elements. Then what about the Heaven-Slaying God Emperor? Could the mission bestowed upon him be to "slay the heavens"?
"The Heaven-Slaying Sword could only be cultivated by Mo E. It was bestowed by the Primordial God, the ultimate pinnacle of all sword paths in the world."
Li Suo continued in a gentle narrative: "The Heaven-Questioning Sword, Heaven-Soothing Sword, Heaven-Governing Sword, and Heaven-Breaking Sword were all created by Mo E."
"What you just replayed in your mind was the first of the ninety-nine sword techniques of the Heaven-Breaking Sword. Its form is passable, but its spirit is less than one percent. Still, after all, there is a distinction between gods and mortals. To cultivate the Heaven-Breaking Sword with a mortal body, even if only a trace of divine meaning is grasped, it is already enough to be admired."
"In that case," Yun Che probed, "You wouldn't happen to... also know the Heaven-Breaking Sword?"
After a brief silence, she replied, "Xi Ke preferred to walk alone and seldom came close. But Ni Xuan, Mo E, and I were once close friends, sharing everything without reservation. After Mo E completed the Heaven-Breaking Sword, he taught it fully to Ni Xuan and me. Ostensibly it was to seek flaws, but in truth, it was to show off."
Mo E was too straightforward, and Ni Xuan and Li Suo knew him too well. His "little scheme" was seen through at a glance.
"However, I do not wield the power of killing, and Ni Xuan was not fond of the sword path either. We both only imprinted it in our hearts, never studied or practiced it."
Yun Che twitched the corner of his mouth... In truth, Ni Xuan had not only cultivated the Heaven-Breaking Ninety-Nine Swords, but had even made a bet with Mo E about it. It seemed that because of this, Mo E was willing to set aside his pride and entrust Mo Su to Ni Xuan.
"Then do you still remember the sword techniques?"
"I don't remember."
Li Suo's answer immediately disappointed Yun Che.
But then she added, "I've only recalled... the first sword."
"That's enough!"
Yun Che's eyes lit up again. "Tell me right now. If you remember any other sword techniques later, imprint them into my soul sea as soon as possible."
Li Suo advised, "To cultivate the Heaven-Breaking Sword, one must first master the Heaven-Questioning Sword, Heaven-Soothing Sword, and Heaven-Governing Sword. You have not yet—"
"That's for others."
Yun Che rudely interrupted the words of the Creation God. "And my goal is not to cultivate the Heaven-Breaking Sword either."
...Two hours later, Hua Caili, sensed through his perception, finally stood up. She had expended a great deal of energy, but her injuries were not severe. Moreover, the medicines she carried with her for healing and restoring profound force were among the best even within the Divine Kingdom. During this time, her profound force had already recovered by nearly half. Yun Che, who had been quiet for a long while, also opened his eyes at this moment.
Time to begin.
The Heaven-Defying Demon-Slaying Sword appeared. With one swing, it struck the ground, causing the earth beneath his feet to collapse and rubble to fly everywhere. The Abyss Beasts roaming nearby were startled by the loud noise and, driven by instinct, charged madly toward him. Facing one after another Abyss Beast closing in from different directions, Yun Che did not drive them away. Instead, he released the profound energy from his body, allowing the destructive forces of these Abyss Beasts to slam into his own body.
Ssshh! Boom!
The claws of the Abyss Beasts, carrying violent power, were among the most terrifying destructive blades in this world. In an instant, they left several bloody gashes on Yun Che's body, so deep that bone was visible... Behind him, another burst of destructive force blasted several bloody holes. In the blink of an eye, Yun Che was covered in wounds, drenched in blood.
"You—?"
Li Suo let out a surprised murmur. A heavy thud rang out as Yun Che was sent flying violently, his body carving a long, deep trench into the ground, leaving behind a trail of blood that was shocking to behold.
Bang!
"Yama King, activate!" The sudden eruption of profound energy forcefully sent the lunging Abyss Beasts flying back. The Heaven-Defying Sword flew back into his hand. Despite being battered and wounded, Yun Che's expression was blank. The blazing Heaven-Defying Sword held nothing back, smashing into the Abyss Beasts that had grievously wounded him. With each swing, the ground inevitably split apart, and bones shattered into fragments. When everything finally fell silent, this area, which had originally been nothing but deathly stillness, had turned into a dark, freezing purgatory thick with the heavy stench of blood.
Yun Che was covered in blood—half his own crimson blood, half the dark, dried blood of the Abyss Beasts. His entire body was marked with countless wounds that would make anyone's heart tremble at the sight.
This number is far from enough.
Yun Che murmured to himself. Then, his divine sense spread out with the Abyss Dust, reaching toward Abyss Beasts in more distant areas.
Half an hour later...
Yun Che leaned his back against a piece of rubble. Beneath him was a dark, blood-red pool formed from Abyss Beast blood. In front of him and behind him, the ground was littered with pieces of Abyss Beast carcasses. A quick sweep showed there were dozens of them.
The surrounding Mist Sea land seemed to have just suffered a terrifying natural disaster. Within sight, there was not a single intact patch of ground. A vermillion giant sword was stuck into the ground, emitting an overly conspicuous vermillion divine glow amidst the darkness and stillness.
"Hiss..." Yun Che sucked in a sharp breath. The Abyss Beasts, not interfered with, were too violent, causing his external injuries to be even more severe than he had anticipated. But fortunately, the wounds on his face were not too serious, so he wouldn't be unrecognizable.
"The same old trick."
Li Suo said four words softly. Apart from her initial surprised murmur, she had not spoken since. She was all too clear about Yun Che's injuries... The external wounds were horrifying, but the internal injuries were actually very light. It was basically the same as when he had attracted Helian Lingzhu's sympathy back then.
"Whether you want someone to let down their guard against you or to quickly close the distance," Yun Che said, his face full of pain but a smile curling at the corner of his mouth, "there's no faster or better way than... letting her save you once."
"Are you sure she will save you?" Li Suo asked.
"Yes." Yun Che responded without any hesitation. "Because I saved her... twice."
Li Suo did not question his answer. She saw clearly that when Yun Che had "stepped forward to save" her in Linyuan Realm, it was just a coincidental planting of a seed that might be useful in the future. His earlier planned rescue in the Mist Sea, however, was a genuine scheme being laid out.
"Then how can you be sure she will come here?"
Yun Che said unhurriedly, "She was just injured and has expended a lot of energy. She definitely won't continue deeper into the Mist Sea. Instead, she will choose to leave temporarily for the outer regions."
"And when a person doesn't have a very clear direction of movement, their body's actions will subconsciously follow their senses. Just like how any living being in the darkness will instinctively head toward the direction of the faintest light."
"In the area ahead of her, I will secretly guide the flow of the Abyss Dust, causing the Abyss Dust in one direction to slowly drift toward the sides, thereby making the Abyss Dust in that direction thinner than elsewhere. Although it is very subtle, it is enough to interfere with her senses. Moreover, she herself will be completely unaware of this interference."
"If it's too obvious, it might be detected by Hua Qingying. If it's too subtle, it won't form an intangible influence on Hua Caili's senses."
Too far away, and he couldn't guide the Abyss Dust with his divine sense. Too close, and he would easily be detected by Hua Qingying. It could be said that the presence of Hua Qingying made Yun Che's pressure when dealing with Hua Caili more than a hundred times greater. He had to be extremely cautious in every aspect, not leaving even the slightest trace or flaw. His wounds, the aura of his severely injured state, the distribution of the Abyss Beast carcasses, the marks of a desperate life-and-death battle... he was meticulous to the extreme.
But... using a Divine Lord's body to deceive the eyes of a Sword Immortal. In the Abyss World, let alone carrying it out, even having such a thought had never existed before.
Li Suo stopped speaking and silently pondered Yun Che's words.
Once upon a time, she was the Life Creation God, the ultimate embodiment of sacred beauty and pure goodness in the world. Awakened in the present world, she was like a blank slate, slowly recovering her memories and cognition. Li Suo had said that after she awoke, her soul was blank. Her former memories and cognition were not only blurry but also completely detached.
When she recalled them, it felt like she was peering into someone else's memories.
Yun Che had not taken these words too seriously. He thought... perhaps Li Suo herself also thought that once her memories and cognition all became clear, she would become the Life Creation God she once was.
But no one knew that when former memories and cognition were all detached, what influenced Li Suo's newborn soul the most was actually the cognition coming from Yun Che. His every move, his every word and action, were almost reshaping Li Suo's personality, worldview, and perception of the world... The influence was far greater than those detached memory fragments.
It was impossible to predict where the former Life Creation God would be led in this world by Yun Che, who regarded all beings of the Abyss as enemies.
In his perception, Hua Caili was getting closer and closer to him. The direction she was heading almost completely overlapped with the direction he had guided.
His divine sense shifted, sweeping toward the Abyss Beasts in the surrounding area.
The timing of the Abyss Beasts' appearance also had to be just right...
At this moment, his heartstrings suddenly stirred.
It seemed there might be a better choice than Abyss Beasts.
He raised his arm, and in his palm appeared a rather large gray crystal.
For cultivators training in the outer areas of the Mist Sea, an Abyss Crystal was a rare treasure beyond hope. Scarcely one in a hundred Divine Sovereign-level Abyss Beasts would possess one. Even for powerful Divine Lord-level Abyss Beasts, it often took over a dozen to produce a single Abyss Crystal, and most weighed only one or two catties. But the one in Yun Che's hand weighed dozens of catties.
Obtaining an Abyss Crystal was by no means easy even for a Demigod cultivator. But for Yun Che, it was far too simple. Because he could precisely sense which Abyss Beast had an Abyss Crystal condensed inside its body. When he collected Abyss Crystals, he only needed to gather the Abyss Beasts with crystals in the surrounding area and then break open their bodies to take them.
The Abyss Beasts would not resist or die. Even the broken parts of their bodies would be quickly repaired by the Abyss Dust. Therefore, within the Heavenly Poison Pearl, the Abyss Crystals he had collected had already piled up into mountains. Later on, whenever he happened upon naturally formed ordinary Abyss Crystals, he couldn't even be bothered to look at them.
Flicking his finger, the Abyss Crystal landed lightly among the broken bodies of a giant Abyss Beast. It rolled twice but was not stained by a single drop of dirty blood, quietly reflecting an eerie gray light.
He let out a light breath. The color quickly drained from his face, and his aura became exceptionally weak.
Hua Caili's footsteps were very slow, and her mind was still tense, obviously not yet fully recovered from the previous danger.
She hadn't expected that just by going a little deeper, things would suddenly become so perilous. In the half year she had spent in the Mist Sea, the most she had ever done at once was to alert seven Abyss Beasts in succession. But this time, she had been surrounded by over twenty Abyss Beasts. If it hadn't been for that strange man named Yun Che saving her, she might have already perished on her own.
This is what Aunt meant... one must always act within their means and not advance rashly.
But it was also in that desperate situation that she had touched upon a sliver of the Heaven-Breaking Sword's intent and unleashed the first sword of Heaven-Breaking.
Just then, the aura from ahead changed slightly. In the air mixed with Abyss Dust, the stench of Abyss Beast blood stirred. Her beautiful eyes instantly gathered sword light, and the Glazed Cloud Sword silently appeared in her palm.
Where her gaze fell, there was nothing but blood, carcasses, and traces of destruction everywhere. Judging from the Abyss Dust emanating from the Abyss Beast remains, they had died not long ago. Everything indicated that a terrifyingly brutal battle had taken place here not too long ago.
Hua Caili completely restrained her aura and slowly stepped forward. Her gaze suddenly touched a strange vermillion glow. It was a huge sword without an edge, stuck diagonally into the scarred ground. Hua Caili recognized it at a glance as the sword Yun Che had used when he saved her earlier... that vermillion sword glow was simply too distinctive.
Could it be...
Her heart tightened slightly. For a moment, she forgot to conceal her aura and flashed forward. When she neared the Heaven-Defying Sword, a figure sat slumped on the ground, covered in blood, also came into her eyes.
The pale side profile with horizontal scars made her breath catch involuntarily.
It's him... Is he... dead...?
Just as she was at a loss, the vermillion giant sword suddenly let out a resonant clang and flew in front of Yun Che. Yun Che, who had been as still as death, also suddenly opened his eyes at that moment.
His pupils were weak, yet they carried the sharpness of a hungry eagle... But when he saw Hua Caili, he suddenly froze. Then his expression completely relaxed. The arm he had tried to raise with all his strength fell limply, and his mouth let out a hoarse voice: "It's you..."
"Are you... alright?" Seeing that he was still alive, Hua Caili let out a slight sigh of relief.
Yun Che did not answer. He uttered weak words: "You... wouldn't be... following me, would you?"
In the vast Mist Sea, to meet again less than three hours later, it was no wonder she had such suspicions.
Hua Caili quickly shook her head and explained, "No no, I wanted to temporarily return to the outer edge of the Mist Sea, just happened to pass by here... really, no."
Seeing how seriously she was explaining, Yun Che's bloodless face actually floated up a hint of a smile. "I was joking."