# Chapter 285: Burning One's Boats
The dim space had no alternation of day and night, nor any way to measure time. Yun Che did not know how long he had been here; his mind was consumed solely by the obsession to get out with all his might. And the first step was to fully recover from his injuries.
Using his own blended medicinal ointments, along with Purple Vein Heavenly Crystals and the recovery ability granted by the Great Dao Pagoda Art, Yun Che's wounds healed quite swiftly, completely recovered in less than half a month. Watching Yun Che survive in such an environment—where injuries that should have been fatal did not worsen to the point of death but instead recovered at astounding speed—even the demon, with his vast knowledge and experience, was repeatedly shocked in secret... This could hardly be called mere recovery... it was regeneration!
Just earlier, a bloody hole had been blasted in his back and his lumbar spine had snapped, but now he was perfectly intact without even a single scar left behind—it was utterly inconceivable!
"What an interesting fellow. To be able to fully recover from such wounds in such a short time. This has little to do with medicine; it seems you've cultivated some sort of miraculous profound art! But in my several hundred years of life, I've never heard of such a wondrous profound art existing!" the demon said in a low voice. Seeing the killing intent gathering in Yun Che's eyes, he laughed heartily. "Do you think that just because you've recovered from your injuries and I cannot move, you can kill me? Even though my profound power is greatly suppressed by this damned formation, with you being merely a small Spirit Xuan Realm cultivator—let alone killing me, you can't even harm a single hair of mine!"
With his injuries healed and his profound power restored to ninety percent, Yun Che grabbed Long Que and stood at the edge of the barrier. With a grim expression, he said, "In this place, it's either you die or I die! Since I managed to snatch my life back, I will never allow myself to die again... The only one who will die is you!"
"Although his profound power is suppressed, judging from the aura he emitted earlier at the Sword Control Platform, he can probably still exert the strength of an early-stage King Xuan Realm. You are not affected by the formation's suppression, but the gap between you is still far too great. Killing him is a complete pipe dream. However, his body is bound and he can only move one hand, so he can't give chase either. If you rely on Star God Remnant Shadow and Cloud-Sealing Sun-Locking, it won't be difficult to keep yourself alive while attacking him... If you want to try whether you have any chance of killing him, then go ahead and try." Mo Li's reminder was indifferent. But clearly, she did not believe Yun Che could actually kill this demon.
"If I don't try, how will I know!"
Yun Che's brows furrowed. He held Long Que horizontally, activated Heart Incineration, and sprinted into the barrier. The feeling of suppression immediately hit him but quickly dissipated. His eyes locked onto the demon's only movable right hand, his entire body tense with concentration. However, to his surprise, after he entered the barrier, the demon still did not strike at him. Beneath the white hair, those gray eyes stared at him, but there was no murderous aura at all.
Even when Yun Che approached right in front of him, the demon remained motionless.
"Ha! Overlord's Wrath!"
Yun Che let out a low roar. Long Que smashed down at the demon with the force of crashing waves and surging tides. Killing the demon was Yun Che's only goal, so there would be no mercy in his attack. This strike aimed directly for the demon's crown... As the heavy blade traced its descending arc, the demon still made no move, allowing Long Que, carrying ten thousand jun of force, to slam heavily into his head.
Bang!!!!
Though Yun Che's profound power was only at the early stage of Spirit Xuan Realm, his combat strength could absolutely not be measured by his profound power level alone. The might of this strike was enough to shatter a small hill, let alone a human head. The blow landed with a dull, heavy boom, and the surrounding air was violently pushed aside, forming a brief and terrifying vacuum.
Yun Che was taken aback... because this demon did not dodge or block at all!
Long Que struck the demon's head, but from head to toe, the demon did not even tremble. Under the sword, he slowly lifted his head and said with a faint smile, "You really are a freak. In this damned formation, you're actually not suppressed! And to unleash such combat power with mere Spirit Xuan Realm profound strength—even among my Illusion Demon Royal Clan, few could do the same. I'm suddenly becoming interested in the profound art you cultivate."
That savage strike, enough to split mountains and crack rocks, had smashed directly into his head, yet it hadn't even harmed a single hair. Shocked, Yun Che quickly spun his body, swung Long Que back up, and then brought it crashing down with even more ferocity.
"Falling Moon and Sinking Star!"
This time, the demon moved. In response to Yun Che's Long Que, his arm bent at a speed too fast for the eye to follow. His palm angled upward, and using his middle and ring fingers—the weakest for exerting force—he simply clamped down on the heavy blade of Long Que.
All the power Yun Che had poured into Long Que vanished in an instant like a mud ox sinking into the sea, disappearing without a trace. Then, a terrifying force accompanied by a great crisis rebounded from the blade. Without thinking, Yun Che released his grip lightning-fast, but he was still struck by the profound energy storm that had left the sword. With a muffled groan, he flew backward. After landing, he quickly retreated out of the barrier, crouched down, and panted heavily, his brows locked tight.
What a terrifying demon!
My full-power strike couldn't even harm a single hair of his. And with just two fingers, he effortlessly disarmed me and forced me back... Mo Li was right. With my strength, killing him is pure fantasy.
The eight-thousand-jin Long Que was held lightly between the demon's two fingers, as casually as if he were pinching a chopstick. Feeling the weight of the sword, a flicker of surprise crossed the demon's face. He wagged his finger and said, "Not a bad sword. To wield this blade with such power just now, you are indeed quite extraordinary! Here, take your sword back!"
With a flick of his finger, Long Que turned into a gray shooting star, pierced through the barrier, and embedded itself deeply into the ground at Yun Che's feet with a *ding*.
"Why don't you kill me?" Yun Che asked coldly, staring at him.
"Why should I kill you?" the demon countered. "In my entire life, though I have killed countless people, I have never killed an innocent. If we're counting, dragging you in here was the first time I've ever laid a hand on an innocent! That was because that despicable junior from Tian Wei Sword Domain infuriated me and made me lose my reason. Now that you've come back to life, I have no reason to kill you. Killing you would only add to my sins without any benefit to me. But keeping you alive—at least until you die, I'll have some company... After all, you are just a pitiable victim yourself!"
Yun Che had a strong ability to read people. Frankly speaking, he did not detect any evil or cruel nature in this demon. Over this period, what he sensed most from the demon was sorrow, resentment, and longing—but none of that would stop Yun Che from wanting to kill him, because it was this demon who had brought him here, and only by killing him could he leave. He sneered, "If you've truly never killed an innocent and truly don't want to add to your sins, then kill yourself and let me, an innocent, walk out! Otherwise, don't spout such high-sounding nonsense."
"Hahahahaha!" The demon laughed loudly. "Junior, you are not qualified to say such things to me, because my life is far more valuable than yours!" His eyes widened, radiating terrifying fury and hatred, and his voice grew hoarse. "I have never feared death. A hundred years of darkness and solitude—that loneliness and despair is a thousand times more painful than a quick death! But I refuse to die in vain! I haven't yet personally slaughtered every last old dog of the Tian Wei Sword Domain! Since they won't let me die, then I'll live on, live until the day I can break free from this place and annihilate their entire sect! I won't kill you, but don't delude yourself into thinking you can kill me!"
Yun Che's hands clenched, his breathing ragged. His gaze was sharp, but he remained silent for a long time.
The air here was extremely foul, and his physical strength was consumed far faster than in the outside world. With no food or water for over half a month, coupled with his recent recovery from severe injuries, Yun Che's body felt persistently weak. Hunger had begun to gnaw at him noticeably.
"If your Phoenix Flame were still active, you might have a chance to burn him. But as you are now, you cannot possibly harm him. No matter how much you try, there is not even the slightest chance of success—you'll only accelerate your physical exhaustion. You'd better wait quietly for the Phoenix Blood to revive. Then, you might have the tiniest sliver of hope."
"But only if you can live until then."
When he recalled that all the food in his Heavenly Poison Pearl had been left for Su Linger, he realized that although he had snatched his life back, he was still sinking into the abyss of despair—and sinking deeper.
For a Xuan adept at the Heavenly Xuan Realm, going a year without eating or drinking was no problem. At the King Xuan Realm, food and drink were no longer necessary at all; at that level, eating was merely for the pleasure of taste, not for sustaining life.
But Yun Che was still millions of miles away from that level! He was far from reaching the point where he could survive without food and water.
Day after day passed. The hunger grew heavier, and his body became increasingly weak. Eventually, the feeling of starvation was as intense as a nightmare. During this time, he frantically searched the Heavenly Poison Pearl but found nothing edible. He even tried eating dried and withered rare medicinal herbs, but refining them consumed even more profound power and physical strength...
A month later, Yun Che could no longer feel hunger at all. He could barely even feel the existence of his own body. His mind was sometimes drowsy, sometimes hazy. His body felt as light as a feather, yet moving even slightly was extraordinarily difficult. The Dragon God's Blood kept him alive; otherwise, having just recovered from fatal injuries and then going over a month without food or drink in this foul, harsh environment, he would surely have starved to death long ago.
"In my first life, I was poisoned to death."
"In my second life, I jumped off Jueyun Cliff and ended myself..."
"I can die a brutal death, even a miserable one... but how can I... die of starvation!"
Yun Che murmured softly, his eyes half-open, his breathing extremely slow. His upper body occasionally swayed, as if he might collapse at any moment. During this time, he spent most of his hours sleeping. And after long sleeps, each time he woke was more difficult than the last. He couldn't predict whether, after the next time he fell asleep, he would ever wake up again.
I can't die...
Even if I have to die... I absolutely cannot die a pathetic death by starvation... No way...
Yun Che extended his left hand. With a flash of green light from the Heavenly Poison Pearl, a giant dragon, a hundred feet tall and completely crimson, appeared before him! But this dragon, which should have been immensely powerful, had no life aura left. Its body had even been cleaved into four perfectly even pieces.
Yun Che grabbed the Tiger Soul Sword, panted heavily as he walked to the tail of the Flame Dragon, activated Heart Incineration, and with all his strength slashed down, managing to cut off the tip of the dragon's enormous tail. He snatched it up. The dead Flame Dragon had no profound power protecting its body; though its physique was still tough, Yun Che could cut through it. If the dragon had been alive, even with ten times his current profound power, he would not have been able to harm a single scale.
Anything preserved within the Heavenly Poison Pearl would not undergo decay. This Flame Dragon, though dead for over a year, still remained as fresh as just after its death. Fresh blood dripped rapidly from the severed tail tip—pure dragon blood!
Watching the blood drip down, Yun Che's eyes glowed with deep greed and craving... Then, Mo Li's helpless voice sounded in his sea of consciousness: "Have you thought this through? You know that this is a King Xuan Realm dragon. The power contained in its flesh and blood is far beyond what you can withstand. If you truly consume it... you will very likely die immediately!"
"I... have no choice! I believe... I can endure it! And even if... even if I can't, I would rather explode and die than be starved to death!"
Having said this quietly, Yun Che quickly raised his arm, held the dragon tail to his lips, and let the dripping dragon blood fall into his mouth... The dragon blood was salty and rank, but to Yun Che at this moment, it was no less than nectar from paradise.
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Sorry, only one chapter again today... I kneel in shame!
[Question: How many days can one giant dragon feed a person? Oh no, how many years?]
[Thank you everyone for your monthly votes and tips... I am grateful to the point of intestinal rupture!]
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