# Chapter 2043: Abyss Ghost
Yun Che's "mature" admonition left Hua Caili truly stunned for a long time, as if she were trying hard to understand and digest his words.
But after the silence, what rang out was an exceptionally clear and pleasant "pfft" sound.
Yun Che couldn't help but touch the tip of his nose: "Is there something... so funny about what I said?"
"No, no." Hua Caili quickly covered her lips, but her smile did not fade: "It's just that your manner just now, and the words you spoke, were exactly like my father."
Yun Che: "..."
"Your age is clearly so young." Hua Caili's eyes curved at the corners: "I have firmly remembered every word you said. But there is one sentence that I cannot agree with."
"Which one?"
"The part where you claim to be cold and ruthless." Her light smile carried a seriousness that brooked no debate: "Although my experience is very shallow, and I haven't met as many people as you, there is one thing I am very certain of—you are definitely not a cold and ruthless person. On the contrary, you are the very best person I have met during this training journey."
Yun Che was about to speak when Hua Caili hurriedly interrupted him: "Don't be so quick to deny it. On the day we first met in Linyuan Realm, we didn't know each other at all, yet you decisively stepped in to help. That Helian princess of Linyuan Realm had shown you kindness, so you helped the entire Helian royal family gain the qualification to enter the Qilin God Realm, and even restored the dignity they had lost for so long."
"As for me, it is clearly you who saved me far more often, yet you are always mindful of owing me a favor, wishing you could repay it tenfold. You even agreed to my excessive request to travel together."
"Therefore, you are not cold and ruthless at all. Instead, you are the most loyal and righteous person I have ever met."
Yun Che opened his mouth, but before he could utter a sound, Hua Caili interrupted him again: "And there is one irrefutable piece of evidence!"
"Your Light Profound Force." She looked at him, her beautiful eyes rippling with starlight: "Although I have never seen Light Profound Force before, all profound practitioners know that the reason people with Light Profound Force are so rare is because bearing it requires a sacred and stainless body and a heart of utmost purity and goodness."
"And such a person... such a Young Master Yun, should be the farthest person in this world from being 'cold and ruthless.'"
The girl's eyes were too clear, causing him to look away. He smiled wryly: "The so-called qualities of Light Profound Force are just rumors. You only say I am loyal and righteous, but do you remember that during the Qilin God Assembly, I tortured my opponents wantonly, my methods were brutal, and I showed no mercy at all. Just now, when I killed those three, I didn't even bat an eye."
"Or perhaps you could guess how many people I have killed in my life..."
Yun Che's words did not bring any confusion or shock to Hua Caili's face. Instead, she slowly shook her head, her brow adorned with an even more radiant smile: "My father once said that a person's appearance and talent are predetermined by heaven and cannot be changed. But aside from these unchangeable things, to be able to be loyal and righteous, to hate evil, and to freely express gratitude and revenge—that is already one in ten thousand, and worthy of a life without regret."
"To be indecisive toward enemies is to harm oneself; to be merciful toward the wicked is to aid evil..." She murmured, then blinked her eyes: "Before, I only found my father's teachings to be nagging and boring. But after meeting Young Master Yun, these words that should have been forgotten suddenly became very clear in my mind."
Her father was one of the Seven Gods of the Six Kingdoms. That her praise could match his was already the highest level of recognition in the world.
"Alright, alright." Yun Che looked half helpless, half flattered: "Since Sister Qu says so, it must be right. From now on, I can go around calling myself a good person."
"You already are." After emphasizing this, she didn't forget to add: "I also need to thank Young Master Yun for helping me find the answer. On my own, even after many more years, I would never have thought of it."
Unconsciously, the distance between them had narrowed, replaced by a warm glow.
"No wonder you chose to actively reveal your Light Profound Force." Li Suo's voice suddenly rang out.
"By actively revealing a huge secret, building trust and closing the distance is secondary. The most important thing is to awaken the other person's 'cognition.'"
"Exactly." Yun Che replied unhurriedly: "I have lamented more than once that fixed cognition is, in some ways, the most terrifying thing."
"See," he said with some smugness, "based on her 'cognition' of Light Profound Force, she fundamentally believes I am a person of utmost purity and goodness. Even when I claim to be heartless, even when she witnesses me torturing opponents and killing without mercy, she will find reasons to deny it... oh, 'irrefutable evidence.'"
"...Not without despicability," Li Suo commented.
Yun Che shrugged indifferently: "From the moment I met her in the Mist Sea, the despicability had already begun."
Li Suo: "However, it seems you have failed."
"Failed?" Yun Che raised an eyebrow: "How so?"
Li Suo said slowly: "Your original intention was probably to make her develop romantic feelings for you. But she just said your demeanor resembles her father. In that case, how could romantic feelings arise?"
"You wouldn't understand." Yun Che said nonchalantly: "Her lack of worldly experience is obvious at a glance. As such, the man she has had the most contact with in her life, the one she most admires, respects, and can imagine as the most towering figure, is undoubtedly her father. In her conversations with me, she also unconsciously mentions the word 'father' often."
"Therefore, this casual remark of hers subconsciously aligns my image with her father's. This is not failure at all; it is an excellent state of intimacy, trust, and even a transference of some admiration."
"...??" Li Suo could not understand and had no words to respond.
"Oh, I forgot." Yun Che realized: "You don't have parents, so naturally it's hard to comprehend."
"..." Li Suo fell silent.
Just then, an extremely abnormal fluctuation of abyss dust came from behind.
Yun Che quickly turned around, and Hua Caili also let out a surprised cry: "Look! Ah... could it be..."
As far as the eye could see, the middle-aged man who had been pierced through the body and pinned to the ground by Yun Che's sword, his life force already extinguished, was now shrouded in gray mist. The surrounding abyss dust, as if drawn by an invisible force, surged wildly toward his corpse.
But this lifeless body was not devoured by the abyss dust; instead, it gradually turned pitch black. Then, a violent and icy profound energy slowly rose from it.
Creak!
The body under the gray mist moved. Legs supporting the corpse pierced by the greatsword, it slowly stood up.
He was surrounded by gray energy. His face, barely discernible, was as pale as a corpse. And his eyes emitted two terrifying black rays resembling those of abyssal beasts.
The profound force that should have been eternally silent with the death of the body now rekindled within him, only more violent than when he was alive.
"Abyss... Ghost!" Hua Caili murmured.
Profound beasts completely eroded by abyss dust would turn into abyssal beasts.
And humans completely eroded by abyss dust would turn into abyss ghosts.
However, a profound beast eroded would inevitably become an abyssal beast. But a human, when eroded, would go from severe injury to death, and after death, be corroded into nothingness... Only one in ten thousand could turn into an abyss ghost.
As for the circumstances under which a person would be eroded into an abyss ghost by abyss dust... some speculated it was due to special physique, being alienated by abyss dust before being annihilated; others guessed it was due to a special soul, assimilating with the abyss dust. There were many theories, but no conclusion had been reached to this day.
A strange light flashed in Yun Che's eyes.
During this time in the Mist Sea, he had encountered countless abyssal beasts and occasionally seen abyss ghosts. But this was the first time he had witnessed a deceased profound practitioner being transformed into an abyss ghost.
The newborn abyss ghost grabbed the sword hilt with both hands and forcefully pulled it out of his body, splashing out blood as black-red as that of an abyssal beast.
A pair of terrifying abyss eyes pierced straight at Yun Che and Hua Caili.
Then, he let out an inhuman howl, swung the greatsword, and charged at the two.
Abyss ghosts, like abyssal beasts, had the purest desire for destruction.
But unlike abyssal beasts, their abyss-corrupted bodies retained their ability to wield power and combat instincts. In the endless abyss dust of the Mist Sea, their wounds healed quickly, their strength was inexhaustible, and they were far more terrifying than when they were alive—more than their former selves.
The sword might and sword intent carried by the descending greatsword were in no way inferior to when he was alive, and even more violent with the aid of the abyss dust.
Hua Caili let out a light snort and was forced back several zhang in an instant.
Yun Che charged forward directly. The Yama King opened, and his hand, without retreat, grabbed the greatsword.
With a tremor, both hands of the abyss ghost's wrists were shattered. His gray-mist-shrouded body was also flipped in the air. Yun Che swung his sword backhand and slammed it heavily into the abyss ghost.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!—
With each strike of his demigod power, the abyss ghost's body was smashed to the point of distortion. By the seventh blow, the abyss ghost's body could no longer hold together and shattered into several pieces midair.
Yun Che stepped forward, and the Ice Phoenix power descended, rapidly enveloping and sealing the shattered remains of the abyss ghost, then crushing them into a cloud of ice dust.
Around the ice dust, wisps of thick gray mist rose and scattered, quickly merging into the boundless Mist Sea.
Yun Che slowly lowered his hand, his gaze always following the wisps of dispersing gray mist.
"You startled me." Hua Caili quickly walked over, but her jade face was full of surprise and excitement: "This is the first time I've seen someone transform into an abyss ghost right before my eyes."
"Me too." Yun Che nodded: "An unexpected gain?"
The roars of abyssal beasts came from afar, clearly disturbed by the huge commotion.
"Let's leave here first."
The two concealed their auras and headed in a direction where no roars were heard.
As their figures were completely swallowed by the abyss mist, Yun Che silently looked back, glancing at the spot where the abyss ghost had been.
"Why is your soul sea churning so violently?" Li Suo suddenly asked.
Even when he saw the Qilin God in the Qilin God Realm, his heart and soul had not churned this violently.
"It seems... I've discovered something remarkable." Yun Che narrowed his eyes, lost in thought: "But I'll need time to verify."
…………
…………
Ten days later, at the edge of the Mist Sea.
"...I still can't face the death of living beings as calmly as you can. Is this a sign of cowardice?"
"No. It's because your nature is too pure and good, and because everything you have seen before was the beauty of the world. You haven't yet become accustomed to the cruelties that are even more brutal than death."
"Cruelties more brutal than death..." Hua Caili thought for a long time, then asked with great confusion: "What kind of cruelty could be more brutal than death?"
These days, she had unconsciously asked Yun Che too many questions.
"Many, many." Yun Che looked ahead and replied in a calm voice:
"Such as... a homeland crumbling to ashes before your eyes..."
"Eternal loss of a beloved..."
"Truths that arrive too late to regret..."
"Despair with no choice..."
"Trust in the corrupt-hearted, poisonous words and wounds to those closest to your heart..."
"Many... comparatively, death is but a moment of fear and pain. Sometimes, it is even a relief that people long for."
Hua Caili's snow-white hand unconsciously pressed to her heart.
Those words, so plain, yet they gave her a suffocating sadness.
Unbidden, images of her father, her aunt, the Zhe Tian Divine Kingdom flashed before her eyes. She shook her head and said, "I've never thought about these things before, and now I... don't dare to think about them. Wuwu... just hearing you say these words feels so terrifying."
"No matter who encounters one of these, they are pitiable."
Yun Che smiled and said, "Rest assured. Someone as beautiful as you must surely be blessed by heaven. Your closest loved ones will certainly never let any of this worldly misery touch you."
She turned her eyes to look at him for a long while, then asked with great seriousness, "It's really strange. Your age is only half a jiazi, so why do you know and have seen so many things? It's just like those... seniors who have traversed all worlds countless times."
"Probably because my experiences are quite special. And besides..."
He paused, hesitated for a long time, then seemed to finally make a decision: "Sister Qu, actually... my age is not half a jiazi."
"Eh?" Hua Caili's eyes showed surprise: "But during the Qilin God Assembly, I personally saw your bone age measured as just over half a jiazi."
Yun Che stopped walking: "It's not that the measuring profound stele had a problem. What it measures is a person's bone age. And as for me..."
He paused, and suddenly blue light flashed on his body. Behind him, a huge shadow of an azure dragon slowly materialized... accompanied by an ancient dragon's might that instantly sealed the entire space.
"Ah!" Hua Caili let out a startled cry, taking a half step back. Her wide, beautiful eyes reflected the dragon shadow overlapping with Yun Che.
Yun Che smiled slightly, lowered his arm, and the dragon shadow and dragon might dissipated together: "My master bestowed upon me dragon marrow and a dragon soul, so my bone and blood must naturally differ from ordinary people. The profound stele used to measure a person's bone age naturally cannot determine my true age."
"I mentioned before that when my master saved me, I was probably only about ten years old. More than a hundred years have passed since then. So my real age should be about two jiazi."
Looking at Hua Caili, whose pink lips were half-parted and whose surprise had not yet faded, he showed a look of guilt: "The dragon marrow and dragon soul were also secrets my master instructed me not to reveal to others, so I kept them from Sister Qu for so long. If Sister Qu is angry, I... am willing to accept any punishment."
Compared to Hua Caili's surprise, Hua Qingying's heart and soul shook like ten thousand mountains collapsing from afar.
With Hua Caili's experience, she couldn't identify any peculiarity in Yun Che's dragon soul. But Hua Qingying's experience was vast...
"Dragon God..." she murmured, her following voice filled with incredulous astonishment:
"Above... the... Ancestral Dragon...?"