Chapter 2052: Saving Li
This scene completely defied Hua Qingying's understanding of Abyss Beasts.
But she didn't have time to feel the slightest astonishment, because her heart and soul were instantly filled with extreme terror.
At that same moment, the Juexian Sword flew out of her hand, racing toward the power that was directly bearing down on Hua Caili.
Hua Qingying, known throughout the world as a Sword Immortal, specialized in swordsmanship and movement techniques.
Her sword could slay a person in an instant, silent and unnoticed from ten zhang away.
This was not only the pinnacle of sword intent, but also the ultimate realm of controlling profound force.
In short, it was condensing profound force into the sword, achieving extreme compression and control of profound energy. Even the tiniest wisp of profound energy could take a life in an instant at her sword's will.
This was the polar opposite of Yun Che, who drove profound force with wild abandon and struck with grand, sweeping movements.
Since comprehending the Heaven-Breaking Sword Intent, Hua Qingying had never been defeated by an opponent of the same realm. Because even with identical cultivation and equal profound force, when they fought, her opponent would be nearing exhaustion while she had used at most three-tenths of her strength.
Against an opponent's overwhelming power suppression, a single strand of her sword light could scatter it.
Ultimate lightness and mystery were the origin of the character "Immortal" in her title.
Thus, she had always disdained the way of the heavy sword. Though a heavy sword was fierce and violent—able to stand against a thousand when advancing or defend a vast territory when retreating—its consumption was enormous and its brutishness knew no bounds. If faced with a powerful enemy, one would exhaust oneself before defeating the foe.
To her, something like the Abyss Linshen, whose single claw could bring calamity for a hundred li, collapse for a thousand li, and shake for ten thousand li, was nothing more than a dull and stupid savage beast.
Thus, even in the Mist Sea, she could remain undefeated against the Abyss Linshen and move freely.
But... at this moment, for the first time in her life, she so clearly and truly perceived the weakness of her own power.
Suppression...
Her Juexian Sword, in the blink of an eye, desperately chased after the Abyss Linshen's massive force... If this force had been released toward her direction, even if Hua Caili would still be caught in the residual waves from behind, she would never be fatally struck.
But directly blasting toward Hua Caili from a mere distance of less than seventy li... that was virtually a ninety-nine percent death sentence!
The sound of the Juexian Sword tearing through the air was almost a wail. It split into hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of sword lights, chaotically slicing and annihilating the power of the Abyss Linshen.
But in that brief instant, the Juexian Sword, arriving later, could never completely annihilate the power bearing down on Hua Caili.
Thirty percent, fifty percent, sixty percent, seventy percent...
The remaining thirty percent of Qilin divine power that had not been annihilated finally crashed down upon the space where Hua Caili was.
The shadow of death pressed from behind. Hua Caili, in mid-flight, twisted her body with difficulty, ignoring the rupture of her internal injuries, and used the Liyun Sword to arduously construct a fan-shaped sword formation.
BOOM————
The incredibly hard Mist Sea ground was forcibly sunken by dozens of zhang.
The Liyun Sword's light dimmed, flying far away and falling.
Meanwhile, its owner flew sideways like a withered leaf swept by a hurricane, flying far, far away, before weakly crashing onto the still-trembling cold earth.
A blinding scarlet rapidly spread across her pure white outer robes, unbearably beautiful yet tragic.
"Caili!!"
The world was blurry, now pale, now gray. Vaguely, she heard her aunt's voice... a voice of panic and shrillness she had never heard before.
She felt no pain, and could barely even feel the existence of her body.
Her aunt had said that no matter how severe the injury, as long as one could still feel pain, it was not frightening. What was frightening was suddenly feeling no pain, because that signified that the body and soul were both gravely wounded to the brink of death.
Her fingers, half-stained with blood, curled with effort, but could not support her to stand.
Her vision grew increasingly blurred. The clearest consciousness was a sense of despair as her life rapidly drained away.
Father God... Aunt...
Young... Master... Yun...
The calamity was not over. The enraged Abyss Linshen roared and struck again, its two Qilin claws stirring the Qilin power corrupted by the Abyss, smashing heavily toward the ground below.
This time, its power was not concentrated toward Hua Caili's direction, but directly covered several hundred li around.
Within a hundred li, all living beings below the demigod level would either die or be severely wounded.
No blind spots, no chance of luck.
And with Hua Caili's thread-thin aura, she was certain to die.
Its enormous body could instantly erupt with power as vast as the sea. Because it was the protective Linshen, its erupted Qilin divine power could protect countless living beings from harm.
Now, it had become a fierce god of destruction.
What was once a protective divine domain it could forge in an instant had now become an inescapable death domain.
"..." Hua Qingying stood frozen, a deep sense of powerlessness and despair making her feel as if she had returned ten thousand years ago... to Qu Wanxin lying in a pool of blood, with fifty-four Soul-Severing Nails driven into her body.
Back then, she had been powerless to change fate, leaving only regret and guilt.
Now, facing Hua Caili trapped in a deadly situation, the short distance of seventy li was a desperate chasm...
Even if she could stop time and protect Hua Caili, without anyone to restrain it, what followed would be the Abyss Linshen's furious power and pursuit... an inescapable death.
The Juexian Sword, which was flying back to her hand, suddenly lost power and fell from the air.
Just like her soul, which had instantly fallen into an abyss.
If only I had fled with all my might with Caili from the start, instead of leaving her alone and trying to lure it away, there might have been a thirty percent chance of survival.
Back then, I harmed Qu Wanxin. Now, I have harmed her daughter again...
Without a doubt, she had made what should have been the most rational and correct choice. She had fought the Abyss Linshen several times and knew that despite its massive size, its speed was by no means slow. If she fled at full speed with Hua Caili, it would take at least a hundred breaths to completely shake off the Abyss Linshen.
During those hundred breaths, even if she protected Hua Caili with all her might, just the terrifying divine pressure and spatial tremors from the Abyss Linshen would cause her injuries to worsen layer by layer, until she died.
She had no other choice.
But she had never imagined that the Abyss Linshen, which had clearly been attracted by her aura and power, would actually attack Hua Caili, who had fled far away.
Just as all hope died, a world-shaking dragon's roar suddenly sounded from the distant sky.
ROAR——————
Hua Qingying's sword soul trembled, and her dim eyes immediately cleared.
The Abyss Linshen, with its claws raised high and immense power surging, also suddenly halted at this ancient dragon's roar.
And in that brief pause, a black shadow shot out from the trembling space, rushing straight toward Hua Caili, quickly and carefully gathering her bloodied body into his arms and protecting her against his chest.
Hua Qingying's eyes abruptly turned. The Abyss Dust eroding her vision, but she still recognized the black shadow that had appeared beside Hua Caili in an instant.
Yun Che!?
Her mind had been in chaos just now, and she hadn't noticed at all when he had approached.
And why would he approach this calamitous place that everyone else would only fear and flee from...
Warmth touched her body, so familiar it felt like falling into a dream. Her colorless eyes trembled violently, gradually making out the face so close—a face she had thought was lost forever.
"..." Her lips parted, but no sound came out. Only a mist of tears blurred her vision again.
After the brief pause, the Abyss Linshen's claws crashed down... but because of the pause, its tremendous power had naturally dissipated by a small half.
BOOM——
The divine-level force blasted Hua Qingying far away, but she seemed completely unaware, her gaze fixed on the distance... watching as, in that instant, a yellow barrier enveloped Hua Caili's body.
It was an earth barrier symbolizing the strongest protective profound force, but it was compressed to its smallest size, firmly protecting only Hua Caili, leaving none for himself.
The ground was lifted a thousand zhang high, surging toward the gray sky. Two small figures, like bamboo boats in a raging sea, were flung in different directions.
But in that instant, Hua Qingying clearly caught... countless cracks spreading across the barrier around Hua Caili, but it didn't completely shatter until the moment they hit the ground.
Yun Che had sacrificed his own protective barrier and, from seventy li away, forcibly withstood the Abyss Linshen's earth-stomping strike that still retained half its power.
The black figure rose... His black clothes were even darker, and she knew that it was because they were soaked with blood from head to toe.
Yun Che, at the third level of the Divine Lord Realm, possessed strength and a body comparable to the early Divine Annihilation Realm. At that distance, if he defended with all his might, he could completely withstand the residual power from the Abyss Linshen... even if injured, it would not have been severe.
But he had given all his protective power to Hua Caili. It was easy to imagine that even with his demigod and Dragon God body, without any protection, his body must already be broken, organs destroyed, bones shattered.
Yet he struggled to get up at the first moment, dragging a trail of blood that was clearly visible from afar, and threw himself toward Hua Caili again.
A weak, bloodied yet resolute and firm voice also came from that direction:
"Please, senior... hold back the beast... I swear on my life... I will protect her safety..."
He lifted Hua Caili, and a new barrier formed over them. His severely wounded body erupted with a speed like a miracle, rushing into the distance.
SHIIING!!
The fallen Juexian Sword shot up from the ground. Hua Qingying, who usually let little profound energy leak out, now had her long hair flying, her white robes fluttering, and a furious vortex of profound energy swirling around her.
Where the sword tip pointed, a sword curtain shot down, and in an instant it overlapped into a thousand layers of sword curtains.
She rarely used sword curtains against enemies. But now, she was not trying to defeat the enemy, only to obstruct its body and power in every possible way.
Drip...
Drip...
Warm liquid dripped onto the girl's cheek. She opened her eyes and looked at Yun Che's blood-streaked face, unable to distinguish dream from reality.
"Young... Master... Yun..." she uttered, her voice as faint as a breeze, like a dream.
The ground was shaking, and the wind howling in her ears was like the screams of evil spirits. He lowered his head in the girl's blurry vision, revealing the same gentle and calm smile that seemed forever warm: "Don't be afraid. It'll be fine soon..."
A heavy pressure came from behind. The residual power blocked by the sword curtain was still terrifying.
Hua Caili felt herself being held tightly... Though her vision was blurred, she could still see clearly enough that the protective barrier that had originally enveloped the two suddenly contracted sharply, ultimately turning into a thick yellow flowing light that swirled only around her body.
"No... don't..."
BOOM!
Space twisted. Hua Caili's consciousness went blank again, and her ears buzzed. But soon, everything cleared up again.
She saw Yun Che tumbling into the distance, but in the midst of his tumbling, he forcibly twisted in midair. His back was already a mess of flesh and blood, bones exposed. The moment he stood up, his left arm was bent backward at a horrifying angle.
The severity of his injuries was unimaginable.
Because once again, he had poured all his protective power into her.
CRACK!
He forcibly snapped his bent arm back into place, without even a grunt. Staggering, he lunged back to her side.
His left arm, just snapped back and undoubtedly enduring bone-splitting pain, once again held her firmly against his chest. Then he lifted her and, with strength seemingly squeezed from nowhere, rushed forward without any pause.
A mist of tears suddenly blurred her eyes. Though her body felt no pain, a piercing ache stabbed at her heart.
"Put me down... you'll... die..."
She forced out the words, each one accompanied by tears.
Drip... drip...
The speed of the blood droplets falling had increased several times compared to before, but his lowered eyes still carried the gentlest, reassuring smile: "No... we... will not die..."
SPLAT—
Yun Che staggered, fell to his knees and slid, spitting a large mouthful of blood, but immediately leaped up again, running desperately.
"Put me down..." she forced out with all her remaining vitality and willpower, "Go... you must keep your word... never see each other again..."
Yun Che's blood-stained long hair fell messily, brushing against the girl's cheek. He looked ahead and whispered, "I will not allow myself to be your burden, and I will not allow... you to be harmed..."
SPLAT!!
The ground's tremor slammed Yun Che far away. He vomited blood again, rolling dozens of times on the ground with Hua Caili in his arms before barely stabilizing.
"Did... I hurt you?" he asked urgently and anxiously, fearing that she might have even one more scratch on her.
"..." Hua Caili did not reply. She stared blankly at Yun Che's chest... There, a long black rock from the Mist Sea had pierced through his back and emerged from his chest, dripping blood.
Her heart and soul felt as if they had fallen into an abyssal deep sea, an extreme cold and extreme warmth chaotically interweaving.
Her lips trembled continuously with her soul. For a long time, she could not utter a single sound.
She had thought that her tears had been completely cried out in the snowfall of that day.
But now, her tears, mingling with the warm blood on her face, kept flowing, unceasing.
The accumulating injuries gradually slowed Yun Che's speed, but he gritted his teeth so hard they nearly shattered, never stopping. The Abyss Linshen was being gradually drawn away by Hua Qingying, its power blocked with all her might by her sword curtains... With every moment, their distance was rapidly increasing.
The residual power from the Abyss Linshen naturally weakened layer by layer.
But Yun Che's condition was also nearing its end. Every defense was undoubtedly a gamble with his life.
BOOM—
BOOM!!
BOOM————
Again and again, wave after wave.
Space trembled. The breath of death approached and receded again and again. But Hua Caili seemed completely unaware of all this. She just stared blankly at Yun Che, watching every change in his expression, every contour of his features, every drop of blood, every trail of bloodstains... greedily savoring the warmth of his body against hers.
Suddenly, she was no longer afraid.
To perish together like this... like a meteor that annihilates...
……
Li Suo had been watching silently all along, never making a sound, so as not to distract Yun Che.
What he did today—the hardest step—was to deceive Hua Qingying's perception and make the Abyss Linshen approach Hua Caili.
To that end, he had gathered an especially vast and dense amount of Abyss Dust. And the Abyss Linshen was hidden within the layers of thick Abyss Dust.
Currently, Yun Che's control over Abyss Dust had not yet reached the level of doing as he pleased. To gather enough Abyss Dust, he had spent a full dozen or more hours.
Obviously, he was very successful.
But there was one thing Li Suo found very puzzling.
Why did he release Xuan Gang to dive into the Abyss Dust and then fabricate a title of "Mist Emperor"?
It seemed completely meaningless.
Getting close enough had already achieved the goal. Making sound with that identity of "Mist Emperor" was entirely superfluous, adding risk for no reason.
Or perhaps... that "Mist Emperor" identity was another part of his plan?