Chapter 2065: The Wrath of the Divine Venerable
Woo——
Nearly half of the Zhe Tian Divine Kingdom sensed the spatial tremor at the same moment.
And in the central divine domain, all Xuan practitioners stood frozen on the spot. The entire domain felt as if trapped under an invisible great cauldron, suffocating them with an oppressive weight that left them utterly breathless.
Hua Fuchen's robes billowed, his long hair scattered in chaos, and the suddenly uncontrollable power of a True God plunged the entire Sword Pavilion into what seemed like an abyss of fury. Every wisp of air transformed into a cold sword imbued with boundless anger and murderous intent.
"Damn... you..."
Hua Fuchen, the Heart-Painting Divine Venerable, usually mild and elegant features twisted as if pulled by invisible threads, distorting nearly beyond human form.
Boom—
Hua Fuchen burst forth violently, the terrifying sound of air explosion tearing space apart until it cracked.
But just as he was about to shoot out of the Sword Pavilion, three cyan sword lights appeared abruptly before him, stabbing straight toward his eyes.
Hua Fuchen's momentum halted instantly, and the raging fury in his eyes seemed torn apart by the sword lights, restoring some clarity to his mind.
"Haven't you had enough of the bitter fruits of impulsiveness in your youth?"
Hua Qingying's cool voice came from behind him, like icy rain drenching his body and frigid spring water cleansing his soul.
Hua Fuchen's chest heaved as if about to burst. It took several breaths before he slowly turned around: "This matter... how do you expect me to remain calm?!"
Even a god has moments when reason shatters.
If there is none, it only means nothing has truly touched what he holds dear.
Hua Qingying met his gaze, her voice also carrying a soul-piercing sword intent: "Don't you want to know the cause and effect first?"
As some rationality returned, Hua Fuchen finally remembered that Hua Caili, during her year of training, had always been accompanied by Hua Qingying.
With her by her side, how could...
He did not step out of the Sword Pavilion again. Hua Fuchen forcibly suppressed the raging, demon-like fury in his chest and walked back slowly: "Alright... speak."
Hua Qingying withdrew the sword intent from her eyes and said calmly: "The matter between Caili and Yun Che, in the final analysis, was something I orchestrated."
Hua Fuchen's brows furrowed deeply, but he said nothing, listening with a heavy heart for her to continue.
"Their meeting began in an independent birthplace near the Mist Sea, called the Linyuan Realm..."
Hua Qingying recounted their meeting, their unexpected reunion in the Mist Sea, Yun Che's rescue, his voluntary departure, and their subsequent encounter in the Mist Sea again...
Finally, Hua Fuchen spoke in a deep voice: "Are you saying that you actively requested Caili... to travel with that brat?"
"Yes." Hua Qingying closed her eyes slowly... It was precisely because of her decision at that time that everything that followed came to pass.
Yet, even now, as a Sword Immortal, she still did not know and could never believe that her decision had been made under a series of intangible guidance and hints from Yun Che.
"Why?" Hua Fuchen shook his head slowly, his face full of bewilderment. "Qingying, I know your nature best. Your heart is devoted to the sword, your mind is devoted to Caili. Beyond that, nothing else can catch your attention. How could you... how could you..."
Hua Qingying said slowly: "Because, time and again, his body displayed things I could not comprehend."
Curiosity is an innate nature of humans, of all living beings. Many times, its power is enough to surpass everything else.
No one can escape it.
"You... cannot comprehend?"
These five simple words seemed strangely unfamiliar to Hua Fuchen.
Although Hua Qingying was not a True God, her realm of knowledge was by no means inferior to anyone in the Six Divine Kingdoms. How could a mere third-level Divine Lord brat make her utter the words "cannot comprehend"?
"I have already promised Caili to keep his secret. So I cannot speak in detail. However, there is one thing... though I feel guilty toward Caili and Yun Che, I should still inform you."
"Yun Che..." Hua Qingying's voice slowed as she uttered words that would be earth-shattering in the Abyss World: "He can use Light Profound Force."
She revealed this secret to Hua Fuchen alone, with a clear reason and purpose.
Those who possess Light Profound Force must have a body and soul of absolute purity.
Back then, it was also because Yun Che had "exposed" his Light Profound Force that she subconsciously let down her guard toward him.
"What? Light Profound Force?" Among the fury Hua Fuchen had been suppressing, a sufficiently intense shock finally squeezed out.
Hua Qingying glanced at him: "Upon hearing of Caili and Yun Che's matter, you would naturally be furiously enraged. With that preconception, you would view Yun Che in the worst light. I am breaking my promise to reveal this secret to you, hoping that when you judge this matter, you will not be overly swayed by emotions."
Hua Fuchen was silent for a long time before he slowly said: "And then?"
...
"Brother Yun, this is my Sword Pavilion. When I was seven, my Father God gave this Sword Pavilion to me. I usually practice swords here... Look! These are all the swords I have used since childhood. Once I use a sword, my aunt never allows anyone else to touch it."
"Look over there! That is the Sword-Breaking Tower, inscribed with nearly all the sword techniques in the world—except for the Heaven-Breaking Sword Technique, of course. But my aunt never allows me to go there, saying that those sword techniques are not worthy of me and would only distract my sword heart."
"That place releasing a strange sword glow is the Ten Thousand Swords Heart-Quenching Array, a place for sudden enlightenment of sword intent... Ah, another light? That is the Dimensional Array personally set up by Uncle Yuan Huang. Every divine kingdom has one, connecting the Six Divine Kingdoms and the Pure Land. However, activating it consumes a lot of energy, so it is generally only used for major events."
Hua Caili led Yun Che, introducing the place where she grew up in great detail, as if she wished to display every trace of her life before him and merge it into his life.
"This is my sleeping chamber."
"Ah... Elder Sister!" Hua Lianzhi let out a startled cry, but could only watch helplessly as Hua Caili pulled Yun Che into the Divine Maiden's sleeping chamber.
Because no man had ever entered Hua Caili's sleeping chamber—including her Father God.
At this point, no matter how unwilling Hua Lianzhi was to believe, she had to discern the truth.
"Oof!" Hua Caili threw herself onto the soft bed and took a long breath of the faint sandalwood fragrance: "So comfortable. During this year away, what I missed the most was my soft bed."
Yun Che smiled and shook his head, saying helplessly: "Your sister Lianzhi here is probably scared to death by you."
But Hua Caili got up and directly hugged him, saying softly: "Among all my sisters, Lianzhi and Biyi are the closest to me. Don't worry, they won't talk recklessly."
"I just remembered that no man has ever entered my sleeping chamber. Brother Yun is the first." Hua Caili said with a smile. "And he will be the only one."
"Oh? By that logic, even your Father God has never stepped in?" Yun Che asked, slightly surprised.
"That's right." Hua Caili twitched her nose. "Don't think Father God is always smiling like he doesn't care about anything. He's actually quite old-fashioned. When I was ten, he told me something like 'A grown daughter should keep distance from her father,' and later 'Men and women should not touch each other'—utterly ridiculous. Obviously, many girls in the divine realm still ride on their fathers' heads to play even when they're over ten."
Yun Che's heart skipped a beat.
This was not good news.
A person so deeply bound by propriety—if he suddenly learned that Hua Caili had been... taken by him... the probability of him killing Yun Che on the spot in a fit of rage was as high as ninety percent.
Fortunately, Hua Qingying was there... She had been the biggest trouble before, but now, wasn't she also the greatest support?
"..." Hua Lianzhi stood outside the sleeping chamber, faintly hearing the sounds inside, her heart pounding like a drum.
Could it be that Elder Sister really... really with him...
This... what can be done...
If Father God finds out, he will surely be thunderingly angry.
It has to be false... please, let it be false.
But... I seem to have never seen Elder Sister laugh so happily.
While she was at a loss and flustered, Hua Caili grabbed Yun Che's hand and flew to another place: "I'll take you to see my garden. Brother Yun will definitely like it."
The pure white Colorful Cloud Branches spread out into a continuous sea of clouds, even in this divine kingdom with extremely weak Abyss Dust, it was as illusory and beautiful as a fairyland.
And when Hua Caili walked into the sea of clouds, it became the true fairyland of this world.
"Colorful Cloud Branches... Caili, Yun Che." Hua Caili whispered, and the Glazed Cloud Sword flew out, landing in her palm: "Glazed Cloud Sword... also Caili and Yun Che."
Her smile surpassed the blooming of endless Colorful Clouds: "Look, everything around me tells me that Brother Yun is the person destined for me."
Hua Lianzhi hurried over, and upon hearing this, was so shocked she stood frozen on the spot. Then she quickly retreated, guarding far outside the flower garden, afraid that someone might approach.
...
"Are you saying that just after Caili had narrowly escaped danger, she encountered a Qiulong that had undergone Abyssal transformation, and that dragon happened to be a male Qiulong... When Caili was invaded by the Qiulong's blood, her injury state was such that it would not kill her, yet she was just incapable of resisting the Qiulong's poison, and also just incapable of forcibly expelling the poison?"
Hua Fuchen, who had only just sat down, stood up again: "How could there be such a coincidence in this world! It was merely a common Qiulong poison, mere ignoble lust poison!"
"Yes, it was just that coincidental." Hua Qingying sighed softly. "Or perhaps, to put it another way, everything... seemed as if it were fated."
"Absurd! Utterly absurd!"
Hua Fuchen took a long breath, the weight in his heart indescribable. After a moment, he thought of something and said emphatically: "Besides, Caili possesses a Perfect Divine Rank, and her body has been tempered by countless extraordinary pills and divine herbs. Even if severely injured, a mere Qiulong poison might not be impossible for her to dispel on her own."
Hua Qingying turned her head and said coldly: "The Qiulong's breath is deadly poison, its blood is extremely lecherous. The lust poison will not kill, but if not resolved, it is likely to damage the mind and soul, turning a woman into a 'lust-obsessed woman.' So, if you were in that situation, would you dare to take that gamble?"
"..." Hua Fuchen could not respond.
"I know you are angry, and I know what is agitating you. But regardless, you must understand one thing."
"Yun Che saved Caili's life." Hua Qingying's words were chillingly profound. "At that time, if he had not risked his life to protect her, fighting with his very life, Caili would have died a hundred times over. And you would not even have had the chance to be enraged."
Hua Fuchen sat back down weakly. After a long silence, he mumbled: "That so-called 'Mist Emperor' and the strange appearance of the Primordial Lin Shen... have you investigated them afterward?"
Hua Qingying shook her head: "Caili nearly encountered a mortal disaster. After that, I dared not leave her side for even a moment, and had no leisure to investigate."
Hua Fuchen looked up and closed his eyes, saying slowly: "If not for the fact that these things were spoken by your own mouth, I would not believe a single word."
"I understand." Hua Qingying said. "If I had not witnessed them with my own eyes and experienced them myself, I would not believe them either... So, don't you truly think that the two of them seem like they are fated to be together?"
"Ha, fated to be together..." A fleeting, sorrowful smile appeared on Hua Fuchen's face. "When these four words are believed, they are beautiful; when they shatter, they are absurd and cruel."
Hua Qingying: "..."
"Qingying," Hua Fuchen seemed to have calmed down, the wild sword light in his eyes gone, "your subsequent indulgence was not out of gratitude that the brat saved Caili's life, but rather... because you still harbor regret for those days."
"Yes." Hua Qingying did not deny it. "Wanxin's end is a demon in my heart that I can never dispel. Perhaps, in my selfishness, I wanted to witness, with my own eyes, her daughter, under a similar fate, striving for another... an outcome she desired but failed to achieve."
A long silence fell, and the atmosphere became exceptionally oppressive.
"Qingying," Hua Fuchen finally spoke, "the reason I facilitated the marriage between Caili and Dian Jiuzhi, you know best."
"Yes." Hua Qingying's response was still the simplest.
"Then you should also know that he is the most suitable person in this world for Caili." These words, spoken now, were utterly powerless.
"I... cannot deny it." Hua Qingying said slowly. "In terms of birth, talent, status, and appearance, he matches Caili. The most commendable thing is that his feelings for Caili are both love and gratitude, and the sincerity of his heart is such that it moves people."
"Not just you and me, but the Pure Land and the Six Divine Kingdoms, even all the people of the world, would consider him the most suitable person for Caili."
"Except... Caili herself."
Hua Fuchen's voice carried a hint of hoarseness: "Suitability or not, in comparison, is not that important. Do you know... if the matter between Caili and Yun Che spreads, what would be the consequences?"
Hua Qingying did not speak.
"Dian Luohou's temperament is as hard as rock, as violent as fire, and above all, he values faith and righteousness the most. If he promises something, he will do it even at the cost of his life. And the promises made by others to him... likewise cannot be broken."
"Especially such an insult to his Senluo Divine Son... an insult to his Senluo Divine Kingdom."
"So," Hua Qingying said, "for the sake of your daughter, what will you do?"
Hua Fuchen stood up, his seemingly calm face unreadable: "For now, I should go see that brat."
"Not the right time." But Hua Qingying stopped him, walking slowly out of the Sword Pavilion, leaving behind only a light voice carrying sword chill: "Tomorrow, when you are sufficiently calm, I will bring him to see you."