Chapter 290: Golden Pagoda
Yun Che felt as if his body was floating through space—light, ethereal, and empty. Everything around him seemed to have disappeared, and the only thing his five senses could perceive was his own existence. Threads of power, faint and elusive, seeped into him from every pore, rapidly healing his injuries and tempering his body... These were the purest essence of heaven and earth.
Even the most powerful beings harbor an instinctive reverence for heaven and earth. For no matter how strong a creature becomes, it remains but a reflection of heaven and earth. The injury the demon man had inflicted on him earlier was not light, yet it was completely healed by the pure energy of this place. As for his inner injuries, they were almost already forgotten.
After examining his body, Yun Che let out a long, deep breath. "Finally... I was almost certain I would never have the chance to escape this place."
"Do you know what this place is?" The demon man's voice calmed.
"I do know..." Yun Che suddenly turned around, staring straight into the demon man's face, and said word by word, "This is your true body."
The demon man closed his eyes. "The fact that you can figure this out using only your strength and the aura of this place... and maintain such calmness... speaks volumes about your character. But do you know what the consequences will be once my true body is completely unsealed?"
"The end of the world," Yun Che replied without hesitation.
The demon man's brows twitched, then he slowly shook his head. "Heh... it's even more terrifying than that."
"...You are confident that once I am unsealed, I will not harm you?"
"Confident?" The demon man laughed loudly. "I never said I was confident. I am simply betting—betting that the time I will spend with you will give me enough reason not to kill you. That kind of bet is far more interesting than any other."
"Then you won't lose the bet," Yun Che replied firmly.
"Ten years," the demon man said, his tone growing deep. "In ten years, you will see my true body. At that time... you will know the true terror of the Abyss. If even then you can maintain an objective stance toward the Abyss, it will be enough."
"Ten years?" Yun Che's brows slightly furrowed. "You said earlier that it would take at least thirty years."
"According to my initial judgment with the Heaven-Defying Demon-Slaying Sword, it would indeed take at least thirty years. But now, the Golden Crow Soul Spirit and the Azure Dragon God's power hidden within you are suppressing me with their aura. This has unexpectedly accelerated the process of breaking the seal on my body by at least three times."
The demon man's gaze shifted toward the blood-red aura floating in the distance. "Plus, the presence of the Evil Infant Myriad Calamity Wheel has also had an effect... None of these factors were anticipated by Zhou Tian Shen Di or those people back then. Their seal on me relied heavily on your Evil God's Indestructible Bloodline, so when your own power grows stronger, the Evil God's Indestructible Bloodline within you awakens, and the seal will become easier to break... For me, that is excellent news. For you... it is not necessarily so."
"I understand." Yun Che nodded. The meaning in the demon man's words was very clear. The stronger he himself became, the faster the demon man would be unsealed. Whether he could protect the world from the demon man's wrath after his unsealing depended entirely on his own strength.
"I hope that, ten years from now, you will have the power to make me hesitate." The demon man closed his eyes, and his tone became lazy once more. "Your talent is completely beyond the limits of this world, but the time is too short. Do you know where you will stand in two years?"
"Absolutely... I will... not... let you... down!" Yun Che said with an extremely resolute tone.
He sat down. In less than an hour, the injuries he had sustained under the demon man's strange palm had completely healed. Having not eaten for an entire day, hunger pangs returned. Now, Yun Che no longer needed to worry about food—the Flame Dragon's massive body would last him for years. He flipped his left hand, and a piece of dragon meat weighing a full ten jin appeared in his palm. He took out a large bowl, drained the dragon blood, then lit a flame and began roasting it patiently.
With the Phoenix Flame awakened, cooking the dragon meat naturally became much more efficient. Before long, the unique aroma of dragon meat wafted over, gradually spreading throughout the entire underground space. Yun Che extinguished the Phoenix Flame, licked the corner of his mouth, picked up the dragon meat, and savored it with relish.
It wasn't until he had devoured a quarter of the dragon meat that a strange sensation came from within his body, but it was quickly suppressed again... With the breakthrough of his profound force realm and the Great Dao Pagoda Art, the awakening of the Phoenix Flame, and the adaptability that came from hundreds of exposures, Yun Che's body had reached a level where it could withstand the impact of the Flame Dragon's flesh and blood. Though he still couldn't completely suppress it, and a sharp pain still surged from countless streams of power in his body, compared to the beginning, it was nothing more than a negligible drizzle.
It wouldn't be long before, as Yun Che's strength continued to rise, these discomforts would vanish completely.
As he savored the delicious dragon meat, his profound gates were fully open, his entire profound force mobilized, and he began refining the power within the dragon meat with all his might. At that moment, a very faint sound reached Yun Che's ears—a soft "gulp."
It was the sound of swallowing saliva.
Yun Che's arm, holding the dragon meat, paused for an instant, but he immediately resumed his voracious eating, as if he hadn't heard anything at all.
Meanwhile, the demon man was almost at his wit's end.
A man who had been starving for a full century was confronted with the most delicious dragon meat in the world... Every time Yun Che gorged on dragon meat was the most agonizing moment for the demon man. But he was a noble Demon King with unyielding pride. He would never beg for food from a junior, nor could he show any trace of craving in front of him. So every time Yun Che gnawed on dragon meat, he either turned his head away or remained motionless, assuming an air of utter indifference, as if he couldn't be bothered to look. In truth, every second was a bitter struggle, and he had shown no sign of weakness for half a year.
But no matter how strong one's will, no matter how good one's ability to conceal, one can never be flawless forever. This time, in a moment of carelessness, he had actually let out the sound of swallowing saliva. Though it was extremely faint, he was certain it was loud enough for Yun Che to hear.
At the same time, he saw that when the sound was made, Yun Che's movement briefly stalled... But Yun Che did not mock him, nor did he even turn his gaze. Instead, he continued biting into the dragon meat, acting as if he had heard nothing at all.
The demon man's emotions calmed, and gratitude appeared on his face. Faced with him—a man notorious throughout the Tian Xuan Continent, the one who had brought him into this abyss—Yun Che did not seize the chance to ridicule him. Instead, he unhesitatingly chose to preserve his dignity.