Chapter 2045: Ripples
"So formidable, really formidable."
In Hua Caili's eyes, the fact that Yun Che, through merely sensing her Heaven-Breaking Sword Intent, had been able to replicate it within a mere dozen or so breaths, far exceeded what could be described as "formidable" or "genius." Even the word "miracle" seemed far too feeble.
Having stood at the pinnacle of the world since childhood, her life had rarely known "praise" or "admiration." Yet at this moment, she found herself utterly unable to find words or postures that were adequate enough.
Not even the divine sons and daughters of the various divine kingdoms had ever elicited such words from her, nor drawn such a look from her eyes.
"It's my master who is formidable," Yun Che said humbly.
A look of longing appeared on Hua Caili's face: "Young Master Yun's master must be an extraordinary person beyond imagination. I feel that his mastery of the sword... surpasses even Auntie's."
Hua Qingying showed no change in expression at these words.
Moreover, the "master" Yun Che spoke of was clearly not specialized in the sword.
Just what kind of extraordinary person...
Her main purpose in actively suggesting that Hua Caili travel together with Yun Che was to gradually uncover the origins of this "master" of his.
Now, nearly half a month had passed, and she had become somewhat afraid to touch upon that vague answer.
She couldn't help but think of a possibility too ethereal, too improbable—
The records of the primordial era's master of elemental order... the Creation Divine Soul.
Hua Caili took a step closer to Yun Che, her voice filled with deep anticipation: "Young Master Yun, I simply cannot understand how you executed that sliver of sword intent just now. Could you teach me—ah, if not, it's completely fine. It was another excessive request on my part."
The Heaven-Breaking lineage were all sword fanatics.
Too eager, she had blurted out such a taboo question. By the time she realized it, she hastily stopped herself, vexed.
"This..." Yun Che looked troubled. After deliberating for a moment, he said: "It's not that I'm unwilling, it's just that..."
"It's fine, it's fine." Hua Caili's face flushed with embarrassment, and she said urgently: "It was wrong of me to..."
"Sister Qu." Yun Che's voice was gentle and soft, soothing Hua Caili's self-annoyance: "If it could benefit your cultivation, I would be more than willing, without a moment's hesitation."
Yun Che's gaze and words calmed Hua Caili's emotions, which then inexplicably quickened a little.
"It's just that the sword I cultivate has neither form nor technique. It all depends on enlightenment and the seamless harmony between myself and the sword. It simply cannot be described in words."
At this point, he seemed to suddenly think of something, and his eyes lit up: "However... when my master taught me swordsmanship, he would channel sword intent through my body, allowing me to feel and understand it myself. Before I knew it, I had made progress."
He raised the Heaven-Defying Sword again: "I will perform that sword intent a few more times. Sister Qu can perceive and comprehend it from this. If it can be of any help to Sister Qu... even a little, it would be my honor."
After speaking, without waiting for Hua Caili's reply, he closed his eyes, sword intent flowing through his body.
Hua Caili quickly calmed her breath, focusing her gaze and spiritual perception intently on Yun Che.
Swish!
A thread of sword might shot into the air, then sliced into the ground beneath their feet—still a very weak Heaven-Breaking Sword Intent, but it seemed slightly stronger than before.
The sword turned, pointing straight at the sky. As it trembled, it traced a vermilion arc in the air above, but behind it, at a distance of seven feet, a fleeting sword scar split open.
The sword momentum changed again. Just as he was about to demonstrate a third time... he heard Hua Caili's very soft, very weak voice in his ear, carrying an unusual anxiety: "Young Master Yun, I... I..."
Her lips unconsciously tightened, then released after a long moment. Her exceptionally beautiful eyes involuntarily darted and wandered: "Could I... place my hand on your arm?"
She was not Yun Che. She could not, as he had said, merely perceive another's sword intent and then, transcending sword foundation and technique, reproduce it through her own sword heart and sword body.
Thus, she wanted to touch Yun Che's body to truly feel the flow of sword intent within his form.
Yun Che's expression was perfectly frozen in a moment of bewilderment... inside, he was also astonished: *This fast? I was prepared to demonstrate for three to five days through various means.*
Was it because she was too obsessed with the sword, or had my earlier "paving" been so effective that the distance between our hearts had unknowingly been shortened to this degree?
"Uh... I..." The usually calm and aloof Young Master Yun now seemed at a loss: "If Sister Qu doesn't mind... of course, I can."
Seeing him in such a rare state gave Hua Caili a little less anxiety and a little more curiosity and inquisitiveness.
"Then I'll continue." Yun Che quickly closed his eyes again, once more gathering the Heaven-Breaking Sword Intent.
Hua Caili stepped forward, raising her white hand. Her slender fingers and pale skin were like snow, and in this dark, turbid sea of mist, they shimmered with a jade-like luster pure as a divine gift.
Her movements were slow. As Yun Che angled his sword, her jade-white finger finally touched his arm.
But what her fingers encountered was not the black, unadorned outer garment, but... the touch of skin.
Countless battles in the mist sea had left Yun Che's outer clothes partially torn. This was how Hua Caili's jade hand "coincidentally" landed on the torn part.
In truth, Li Suo clearly saw that the moment Hua Caili's finger descended, the fabric at that spot silently dissolved—inconspicuous under the cover of Yuan Chen, unnoticed by both Hua Caili and Hua Qingying, who was too far away.
The warm touch stunned Hua Caili for an instant. A completely unfamiliar numb sensation quickly spread from her five fingers, crawling throughout her body and soul.
Her beautiful eyes trembled violently. After a moment of daze, she finally came to her senses and was about to hastily withdraw her hand when an unusual sword intent began to flow through Yun Che's body, then transmitted to her consciousness through their touching fingers.
Her mind was instantly drawn in, quickly suppressing all distracting thoughts. She rapidly concentrated her spirit, her sword heart like an eye, striving to perceive every wisp of sword energy and sword intent flowing through Yun Che's body... as well as the so-called "harmony" between sword, body, and heart.
Swish!
Boom!
Hum——
The sliver of Heaven-Breaking Sword Intent Yun Che could barely release was only that small trace, nowhere near enough to be as silent and formless as Hua Caili's. Thus, each time produced a different sound of sword resonance.
After four strikes, Yun Che suddenly stopped and let out a long breath. He glanced at Hua Caili, then quickly averted his gaze, saying somewhat awkwardly: "Sister Qu, was that... of any benefit?"
Hua Caili slowly opened her eyes. Her sword heart remained condensed, and her eyes seemed to be veiled with a thin mist. She murmured softly: "I didn't grasp it, yet it seems I did... Ah!"
She let out a startled cry and hastily withdrew her finger from Yun Che's arm.
Though it had already moved away, the abnormal warmth still stained her fingertips... it was clearly on her fingertips, yet it seemed to sear her soul, making her heart beat inexplicably faster, and faster.
*Auntie said males are yang, so they are this hot?* She thought confusedly... *But Father's palm is clearly not...*
Her answer, however, made Yun Che's eyes brighten: "Really? As expected of Sister Qu. It took me many years to barely grasp that sense of 'vague presence.' Sister Qu understood it in an instant."
"Huh?" Hua Caili was clearly taken aback.
With a serious expression, Yun Che said: "My master once said: 'Presence like absence, absence like presence; sword intent is intentionlessness, intentionlessness is sword intent.' To understand this is the beginning of sudden enlightenment. Sister Qu's mastery of the sword is truly admirable."
"Is that... so?" Hua Caili began to doubt herself. She looked up and suddenly noticed that Yun Che's complexion was clearly abnormal. She asked: "Young Master Yun, why is your aura in such chaos?"
"Uh... ahem." A look of embarrassment Yun Che had never shown before appeared on his face, and he even somewhat awkwardly avoided her gaze.
Only when he no longer met her beautiful eyes did he seem to calm down somewhat: "I... actually... this is my first time being touched by a woman, so I'm a little at a loss..."
Li Suo: ????
"Ah... ah?" Hua Caili let out two confused sounds, looking at Yun Che with a strange expression she had never used before: "You've been to so many places and had so many experiences, how could you have never been touched by a woman?"
"For instance... that Helian Princess from the Linyuan Realm?" She somehow thought of this person and subconsciously asked.
"No, no, absolutely not." Yun Che denied without any hesitation: "My master taught me that love between a man and a woman is the most beautiful painting in the world, but also the most wounding blade. He told me that as a man, I must never hurt a woman's heart, and especially... if I cannot make a vow to protect her for life, I must never touch her person."
"In all my years in the world, I have always kept this teaching in mind and maintained distance from women at all times. Even when I stayed in the Helian imperial family, I never once touched that Helian eldest princess... not even a strand of her hair."
Hua Caili actually tried to recall the scenes from the Lin God Assembly... at least in the images she could remember, Yun Che had no close contact with that Helian princess.
"Pfft..."
She couldn't help but laugh, then immediately felt it was inappropriate and quickly covered her mouth. Seeing Yun Che's expression become even more awkward due to her laugh, she quickly tried to console him in the best way she could think of: "Actually, this is also my first time touching a man. So... doesn't that make us even?"
*Father God... probably doesn't count, right?*
Hua Caili's words made Yun Che look back in surprise. Their gazes met, and after a long silence, they both laughed at the same time.
"Then from now on, can I often try to perceive your sword intent like I just did?"
As she spoke, her heart was filled more with anticipation, and a little nervousness, shyness, and flutter—hard to find any rejection.
"Of course, you can." Yun Che nodded seriously.
The mist sea was dark and windless, lifeless and heavy.
Yet ripples were quietly spreading.
In the distant sky, Hua Qingying's brows sometimes furrowed, sometimes relaxed, and finally she let out a soft sigh.
Hua Caili had just achieved initial success with her Heaven-Breaking Sword Intent, yet under an irresistible attraction, she wanted to try to experience the strange sword path Yun Che cultivated.
This was undoubtedly a great taboo in sword cultivation.
But there were too many strange things about Yun Che. Who knew... if Caili really had a sudden enlightenment, it could be a great fortune?
*Since I am here to silently protect and never interfere... then let everything be up to her decision.*
…
…
Deep Abyss, Xiaodie Divine Kingdom.
A man walked slowly forward. He had a tall, slender figure and ink-black long hair. He wore a wide black robe, inscribed all over with the most noble and supreme dark demonic patterns of this era.
His face was cold and resolute, his features as if carved by demon blades. His black pupils seemed to overlap with layers of endless night. His steps were slow, but with every step he took, the entire heavens seemed to sink a little.
For the posture he carried was the might of a god!
Divine Venerable of the Xiaodie Divine Kingdom — [Qiheng] Divine Venerable Pan Yusheng.
Behind him followed a gaunt middle-aged man, also with black hair and same robe, radiating a world-shaking dark demonic might.
Where his gaze fell, beside the palace gate ahead, a young man was slumped sideways like mud.
His face was flushed, his eyes dark and dazed. He held a large wine jar in his arms, his body and hair soaked with alcohol. Even from a distance, a thick, pungent smell of wine could be detected.
This was rumored to be the strongest wine, named Thousand Dreams No Return.
But with cultivation at their level, if they casually dispelled it, even wine a thousand times stronger could not intoxicate them in the slightest.
Yet this young man was clearly letting this strongest wine he could find numb his spirit, as if he only wanted to be forever drunk in a dream, unwilling to wake.
Pan Yusheng's brows knitted deeply. The cold majesty in that instant made even the steps of the man behind him falter.
But immediately, he looked away, as if he hadn't seen the young man, and strode past him.
Suddenly, he stopped, turned his head sharply, and roared: "Wretched thing! Are you going to abandon yourself like this until you die?!"
The wrath of a god made heaven and earth tremble in fear. The young man only raised his head slightly, looked at Qiheng Divine Venerable with those murky eyes for a long while, as if barely recognizing him, then revealed a wanton, drunken smile and said indistinctly:
"So it's Father God... *hic!*" He let out a long belch of wine vapor, his voice weak and soft, with no trace of reverence for the Divine Venerable, for his father: "What business does Father God have today to bother with a worthless waste like me... *hic!*"