# Chapter 2038: Palm Blood
His gaze and killing intent made it abundantly clear what Fan Qingzhou intended to do.
The lightning was blinding, but even more so it pierced the heart. Hua Caili's jade-like finger swept horizontally, and the Li Yun Sword flew before her, following the trajectory of her fingertip, releasing a jade-like sword radiance: "The duty of an Abyss Knight is to judge, and the will is to protect. As a potential knight qualified to undergo the trial, are you truly willing... just to avoid leaving a stain, to commit murder against someone with whom you have no enmity or grudge?"
Her words and gaze were stern, but also carried a puzzling pain, which made Fan Qingzhou slightly stunned.
But only for a moment. What surged up afterward was an even more thorough killing intent: "I am very curious as to how you could see through my identity at a single glance. I think the most likely answer is that you have frequent contact with Abyss Knights."
"So, instead, I can't ask. Because I'm very worried that the answer I receive might make me hesitate, and perhaps even feel fear."
The name Fan Qingzhou didn't have to be without stains. They could exist before, or after becoming an Abyss Knight. But absolutely not during this trial.
And the higher the other party's status, the more likely they would expose this stain.
Only half a step... just this last half step, how could he allow such an unexpected existence?
He pointed his sword forward. In an instant, violent lightning illuminated the ferocity in his pupils: "You shouldn't have revealed my identity. You've left me... no choice!"
Based solely on her aura, he was certain her identity was far from ordinary. But this was the Mist Sea; the Mist Sea could conceal and swallow everything, so he dared to be this ruthless... and having taken this step, there was no turning back.
Without another word, Fan Qingzhou thrust his sword, the sword light carrying a thousand bolts of lightning straight at Hua Caili...
As for Yun Che, he hadn't even spared him a glance from start to finish.
The might of a Divine Destruction Realm Level 1 was absolutely no match for a Half-step Divine Destruction Realm. Moreover, Hua Caili was already heavily injured and not yet recovered.
But Hua Caili was no ordinary person. Although she had not yet entered the Divine Destruction Realm, she had grown up surrounded by numerous True Gods and Demigods. The aura of the Divine Destruction Realm could not intimidate her soul at all, and its suppression of her body and power was also far weaker than for others.
Her figure flickered, blossoming into butterfly-wing-like afterimages, instantly escaping the range of the sword light and lightning, and also moving away from where Yun Che was.
Fan Qingzhou's brow visibly sank. He seemed unable to believe that his Divine Destruction power had failed to touch her at all.
He changed his hand gesture, and the sword light and lightning in the air suddenly turned, chasing straight after Hua Caili.
At that moment, the Li Yun Sword also swept out. The jade-colored blade traced a light arc in the air, but instantly burst forth with dozens of colorless sword lights.
The sound of breaking air was as faint as a mosquito's buzz... But Fan Qingzhou's expression changed at that moment, because he suddenly discovered that his connection with the sword light and lightning had vanished.
They had been silently cut off by Hua Caili's sword intent!
The out-of-control sword light and lightning plummeted downward, splitting the ground of the Mist Sea and triggering a terrifying thunderstorm that spread for several miles.
Since there were quite a few attendant knights not too far away, Fan Qingzhou hadn't used his full strength when striking, trying as much as possible to concentrate his power to avoid causing too much of a disturbance.
Although Half-step Divine Destruction was called "half-step to Divine Destruction," compared to true Divine Destruction, there was an insurmountable chasm between major realms. Fan Qingzhou never imagined that his Divine Destruction power could be severed in an instant.
Hua Caili's counterattack came in the blink of an eye. She gently thrust her sword... No sword light or sword aura appeared, and even the surging of profound energy was very light.
But, less than three zhang in front of Fan Qingzhou, dozens of sword lights suddenly shot out, straight at his pupils.
Fan Qingzhou was still in shock from having his profound energy severed. These dozens of sword lights appeared out of nowhere, and with his cultivation at the early Demigod stage, he was caught off guard, only managing to barely retreat.
With a soft ring, all the sword lights struck Fan Qingzhou's body, none missing. But they didn't pierce through; instead, they nailed into his body.
The gap between major realms meant Hua Caili's sword could not seriously wound him.
Fan Qingzhou swung his arm, and the lightning on his body exploded, shattering all the sword lights piercing him in an instant. But as the sword lights disintegrated, dozens of blood holes half an inch deep appeared on his body, with blood droplets splattering before quickly clotting.
Fan Qingzhou staggered back a step, his heart filled with terror.
He too was a sword cultivator. His sword energy was entwined with lightning, capable of binding souls and taking lives at a snap of the fingers.
His sword intent being severed by Hua Caili had already filled him with doubt. And the sword lights that appeared out of nowhere completely transcended his understanding of the sword path.
Yun Che's tightly closed eyes twitched slightly... No wonder it was the Heaven-Breaking Sword created by the Heaven-Slaying God Emperor Mo E; the first strike of the sword could cross space with its intent.
Hua Caili had only comprehended it a few hours ago, and yet she could already execute it to such a degree.
The clarity of his soul struck a sharp warning bell for Fan Qingzhou. Such transcendent sword intent meant the level of the sword path she cultivated was incredibly high, and naturally meant her background was... perhaps far more terrifying than he had imagined.
A chill gripped his heart, instantly turning into an even more bone-piercing killing intent. As he raised his head, the purple sword in his hand shot out.
This time, he held nothing back, leaving no leeway.
The might of Divine Destruction sliced an extremely glaring purple light through the space of the Mist Sea, and also completely dyed Hua Caili's pupils a deep, abyssal purple.
Hua Caili's figure flashed rapidly, and with the point of the Li Yun Sword, the flight path of the purple sword was deflected... Such interference with sword intent across major realms was astonishing enough. But ultimately, it was Divine Destruction power. As the purple sword swept past, even though it was several zhang away, Hua Caili let out a soft cry and was violently thrown back.
Bang!
Her body heavily crashed to the ground, shattering the earth into countless cracks. A few strands of broken hair and blood droplets scattered in the air. Hua Caili struggled to rise. When she looked up, a deep blood furrow appeared on her jade-gleaming forehead, and a trail of blood slowly trickled from the corner of her lips.
Fan Qingzhou was stunned for a third time, but quickly reverted to a sinister expression. He grabbed, and the purple sword flew back into his hand. Violent lightning instantly engulfed the blade and his entire right arm. He gritted his teeth, let out a low roar, and charged at Hua Caili like a frenzied beast.
"Die!"
The sound of thunder churned through the gray space. Fan Qingzhou clearly no longer cared about alarming others, urgently wanting to completely obliterate Hua Caili, who had brought him such immense unease. The Demigod aura pressed down on her, and the purple sword, wreathed in lightning, thrust with extreme brutality toward her throat.
Hua Caili bit her jade teeth tightly. But old wounds compounded by new injuries, and facing Divine Destruction power she simply couldn't contend with, this time she couldn't even fully raise her arm. She could only watch helplessly as the fatal purple light grew closer and closer in her pupils.
Aunt, please save me...
In her heart, she cried out a helpless, mournful plea.
No wonder Aunt said that human nature is always hidden beneath rules. But the turbid Mist Sea can clearly reflect it.
Abyss Knights... In my understanding, they were all so righteous and pure. In the Mist Sea, they can be this cruel and terrifying.
The purple light carrying death grew closer, closer, until it was right before her eyes, forcing her to close them... But still, her aunt's aura did not appear.
Chi... Weng!
A piercing crack and a dull roar sounded simultaneously in front of her. A chaotic storm brushed across her cheek, but the terrifying aura of death was gone.
She slowly opened her eyes. What entered her sight was not her aunt's cyan divine figure, but a man's back firmly shielding her with his body.
Drip...
Drip...
The purple sword thrust at her had pierced through the man's palm, going through half the blade, and was firmly lodged in the bones of his curled fingers, unable to advance even an inch closer to her.
Only drop after drop of blood dripped from his palm, slowly spreading across her pure white gauze robe and her stunned pupils.
The world briefly froze. Fan Qingzhou's pupils dilated more than twofold as he stared at the man who had suddenly appeared in front of him... A Divine Lord Realm Level 3 aura had completely stopped his Divine Destruction power!?
"...?" Hua Qingying, who had been about to strike in the next instant, instantly withdrew her sword intent.
"You...?" Fan Qingzhou looked at Yun Che, so close, repeatedly confirming his cultivation and his own perception.
This was the man who had been breaking through just now. His early Divine Lord Realm aura made him not even worth a glance. And yet, such a person stood unmoving before him, blocking his power head-on... The shock and absurdity of this moment made him feel as if he were in a dream.
Zheng!
Yun Che's hand, pierced by the blade, suddenly tightened, causing the purple sword to tremble with a buzzing sound. The lightning covering it dissipated by more than half. His other hand gently pushed back, sending a gentle profound energy to push Hua Caili far away.
"A piece of trash like you deserves to become an Abyss Knight?" He stared at Fan Qingzhou, a cold, low voice escaping his lips. But Fan Qingzhou's expression grew uglier and uglier... He kept trying to withdraw his sword, but no matter how hard he concentrated, he couldn't pull the purple sword free from those five fingers.
"Who... are you!?" He roared, his voice three parts doubt, seven parts cold fear.
Major realms are insurmountable. As powerful as Hua Caili was, with the sword she cultivated, she could defeat several opponents of the same realm alone, able to cross one... or even several minor realms. But she absolutely could not cross a major realm to match Fan Qingzhou.
But now, this man, only at Divine Lord Realm Level 3, sent a force from the sword that made his arm feel like it was crushed by heaven, heavy enough to crack his bones.
A Demigod snarled in ferocity, while the opposing Divine Lord was full of cold disdain. This scene was extremely incongruous, even somewhat comical.
Yun Che did not respond. His eyes sharpened, and his profound energy erupted.
With a sharp ring, a force far beyond imagination transmitted through the sword. The remaining lightning was instantly annihilated. Fan Qingzhou's hand gripping the sword split at the tiger's mouth. He let out a scream, abruptly releasing his grip and retreating.
Yun Che's palm shook, and the purple sword that had pierced his palm came free, falling into his other hand.
Fan Qingzhou raised his hand. His curled fingers trembled violently, the flesh of his palm turned outward, mixed with shattered bone.
He suddenly looked up at Yun Che. In his shrinking pupils, he saw that his own purple sword had been seized by the other. For a sword cultivator, this was an immense defeat and humiliation. But at this moment, his heart held only endless horror, like ten thousand surging waves.
"Who... the hell are you!?"
He shouted again. Now, he absolutely refused to believe that the other was merely a Level 3 Divine Lord who had just broken through. He must be... an old monster whose cultivation was too high for him to even detect!
"Heh!" Yun Che gave a faint, cold smile. His gaze was mocking and contemptuous, as if looking down upon a pitiful ant... This made Fan Qingzhou even more certain of his judgment.
"Fortunately, you are only a potential knight. If you had actually become a formal Abyss Knight, with your actions today, the very name 'Abyss Knight' would be stained by you. Guess, when that happens, who will be the one least able to tolerate you?"
Yun Che's words were like a knife carving into Fan Qingzhou's heart. He lightly raised the purple sword in his hand, lowering his brow with a sneer: "Or, you can continue trying to silence me."
"..." Fan Qingzhou's pupils continued to dilate and contract violently, unable to stop.
He wasn't stupid. On the contrary, his nature was extremely ruthless, decisive, and not without cold clarity. Otherwise, he wouldn't have so decisively come to silence the witness. The prerequisite for his decision to silence was that he had absolute confidence to erase both the other party and this potential hidden danger without a trace.
Hua Caili's possible identity shocked him, made him afraid to think deeper, and also left him with no retreat.
But he never dreamed he would kick such an iron plate.
Someone who could seize his sword in an instant—he wouldn't naively think he could still silence them.
Ke... Ke ke...
The sound of teeth being ground to pieces escaped from Fan Qingzhou's lips. His steps began to retreat. After three steps, his eyes suddenly sank. With a swirl of storm around him, he burst away, his figure instantly vanishing into the vast Mist Sea.
He had directly fled.
Yun Che didn't give chase. After all, why chase a dead man?
"Hoo..."
He let out a long breath. That breath seemed to drain all his vitality. His body went limp, and he fell to one knee.
"Ah!" Hua Caili let out a soft cry, instantly flashing to his side: "You... are you alright?"
She saw Yun Che's pale face and his blood-drenched hand. A pang of pain stirred in her heart.
Having been so heavily injured earlier, breaking through while injured, and now with the power and posture he showed, it was clearly forced... she thought to herself, instinctively reaching out to help him up. But as her jade fingers neared, she quickly withdrew.
"Don't worry. I'm fine, just a little weak." Yun Che gave an unconcerned smile, then slowly sat down, covering his bloodstained right hand with his left: "Good thing I scared him off."
"Why... did you use your hand to catch his sword?" Hua Caili's gaze kept touching the palm that had been pierced by the purple sword while protecting her. The blood spreading across her clothes was also glaring: "You could have just..."
"If I had just knocked him away, you would definitely have been injured by the residual force." Yun Che said with a smile, his face showing no sign of pain: "In that haste, this was the only option."
"..." Hua Caili opened her mouth to speak, but didn't know what to say. Because from childhood to now, she had never encountered such a situation, nor had she ever felt this kind of... unfamiliar, inexplicable emotion.
Yun Che slowly exhaled again, saying: "Would you be willing to continue guarding me for a short while, Fairy Immortal Sister? I'll be fine soon."
"Good." Hua Caili nodded without any hesitation. She stepped back a few paces and re-established a barrier around Yun Che.
But compared to before, her movements carried a slight disorder, and her gaze seemed tinged with a puzzling bewilderment.
As if, in a certain instant, some part of her soul that she never knew existed had been silently touched.
Li Suo watched everything silently... trying to understand the purpose behind all of Yun Che's false appearances.
Possessing the Great Dao Pagoda Art, every time Yun Che completed a breakthrough, his injuries would fully heal, and he wouldn't be weak.
Moreover, given the toughness of Yun Che's body, for his palm to be pierced by Fan Qingzhou's sword was extremely difficult.
The difficulty wasn't with Fan Qingzhou, but with Yun Che having to perfectly coordinate his own power, the pierced location, and the angle.
Could such a naive and baffling action really have any effect?
............
............
Fan Qingzhou moved like thunder, his raging lightning startling roars from abyssal beasts, but his speed didn't decrease at all.
Because he had to find his backer as soon as possible and return to silence the witnesses in the shortest time. Otherwise, the vast Mist Sea, once the other party went far away, would make them hard to find again.
Fortunately, the thunder he stirred not only alarmed the profound beasts but also the Abyss Knights.
Boom!
Fan Qingzhou's charging form slammed hard into an invisible barrier. A powerful Demigod was sent tumbling back by this barrier, crashing down several miles away. When he landed, even the lightning on his body was completely shattered.
It felt like every bone in his body had been shattered. Fan Qingzhou groaned as he struggled to stand. As he looked up, he saw a pair of calm, authoritative eyes.
The man wore silver armor, of average build. But standing before Fan Qingzhou, he loomed like a towering mountain, making him instantly hold his breath.
He was about to stand up, but instead prostrated himself, kneeling with utmost respect. After sweeping his gaze around to confirm no one else was nearby, he rushed forward on his knees, grabbing the man's robe: "Thirteenth Uncle, save me! You must save me!"
"What are you doing!?"
The silver-armored man kicked him away, his voice cold to the bone: "To become an Abyss Knight, one must always and everywhere be calm, clear-headed, not panicked, not arrogant. And yet you create such a disturbance and appear like a beaten dog! Do you still remember the purpose of entering the Mist Sea this time?"
"And! I am the supervisor of this Mist Sea trial for you, not your Thirteenth Uncle!"
His brow was tightly knit, his eyes full of disappointment and warning.
"I understand." Fan Qingzhou took a deep breath, quickly forcing his expression to become solemn. Then he knelt again before the silver-armored man: "But this time, I've truly run into a big trouble. If Thirteenth Uncle refuses to save me, I'm afraid... I will never have hope of becoming an Abyss Knight."
"..." The silver-armored man's already locked brow sank a fraction further, but he didn't kick him away. He said coldly: "Speak."
Fan Qingzhou quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He was about to speak... but suddenly felt a chill all over.
Because the man before him, seeing something, suddenly had a change in expression.
His collar tightened, and in complete suffocation, he was hoisted up by the throat by the silver-armored man: "Where did those sword wounds on your body come from? Where!?"
The silver-armored man's pupils dilated, clearly with terror.
Even his voice became hoarse.
The hand locked around his throat was clearly trembling.
Fan Qingzhou dared not struggle, and the silver-armored man's reaction made his heart and soul sink straight to the bottom.
"The trouble you speak of, could it be..." The silver-armored man's brow twitched, each word making his gaze more sinister: "The person who left those sword wounds on you?"
"..." Fan Qingzhou couldn't speak, his eyes only showing more fear. Because the silver-armored man's expression meant that the other party was someone even he deeply feared.
Attempting to seize someone's Abyss Crystal, even if it got out, would only be a stain.
But evil thoughts snowball... until they spiral out of control, about to bury him.
Ding!
A soft sound, like a needle falling on a mirror-like lake.
The Fan Qingzhou in his hand was gone.
He turned his neck with difficulty... Ten zhang away, Fan Qingzhou's body lay quietly, no breath, no blood.
Only a faint sword radiance silently dissipated.
Plop!
The silver-armored man knelt on one knee, bowing solemnly: "Abyss Knight Fan Cheng, respectfully welcomes the Sword Immortal's honored presence! Fan Qingzhou's conduct is improper, his faith defiled, he is no longer qualified to be a Knight of the Pure Land. That the Sword Immortal predecessor has deigned to personally discipline him is the greatest fortune of his life."
As an Abyss Knight who served closely among the myriad Divine Officials, Fan Cheng recognized at a glance that Fan Qingzhou's sword wounds were left by the Li Yun Sword.
And the Li Yun Sword had been personally given by the myriad Divine Official to Sword Immortal Hua Qingying, to bestow upon Hua Caili, who had long coveted it.
At that moment, he knew Fan Qingzhou was dead for sure. No one could save him.
Sword Immortal Hua Qingying, in the eyes of the world, was a celestial beyond the mortal realm, untouched by mundane affairs and enmities.
But, if one's level was high enough, they would know. When it came to Hua Caili, this celestial Sword Immortal would become a stubborn madwoman.
Guilt toward Hua Caili, hatred toward herself...
The myriad Divine Official had once said that Hua Qingying's remaining life might be lived for... and only for Hua Caili.
If Fan Qingzhou had provoked Hua Qingying, Hua Qingying might not even have deigned to kill him.
But provoking Hua Caili? Ten thousand lives wouldn't be enough for him to die!
Fan Cheng's voice was quickly swallowed by the gray mist. For a long time, no one responded.
But Fan Cheng kept his head deeply bowed, maintaining the most respectful kneeling posture, not moving.
A full half hour passed like this. Only then did he carefully rise, then tiptoe away quietly. He didn't even dare to take Fan Qingzhou's body, nor even glance at it.
He didn't even know what had happened, and he absolutely had no courage to investigate.
.