Chapter 291: Arcane Firmament
After swallowing a large chunk of dragon meat and taking another sip of dragon blood, Yun Che stood up, sliced the remaining piece of meat in his hand into two equal portions with a flick of his finger, and unhurriedly stepped into the barrier. He walked all the way to the demon man and stopped right in front of him, close enough that the man could launch a fatal attack at any moment.
"Only after eating dragon meat do you truly understand that its flavor is absolutely unmatched by any other beast meat," Yun Che said, holding out the large piece of cooked meat he had just cut. "But eating it alone is somewhat boring. Senior, would you like some?"
The demon man turned his head away and said coldly, "Are you pitying me? Only one of us can live. You're standing this close to me—aren't you afraid I might suddenly kill you?"
Yun Che's entire body exuded no aura of Profound Force defense, and his expression showed no wariness at all. He smiled and said, "Although I want to kill you at every moment, I do so only to survive and gain freedom, not because I hate or despise you. On the contrary, I'm quite certain you are neither an evil person nor a petty one. If you think I'm pitying you... well, you're not wrong. But this pity is the pity of one who shares the same affliction. How are our situations any different? The only difference is that your bonds are even greater than mine."
The demon man turned his gaze toward him, stared at Yun Che for a while, then suddenly laughed. "Heh... good! 'One who shares the same affliction'—well said! I accept this 'pity' of yours!"
As he spoke, he grabbed the dragon meat from Yun Che's hand, brought it to his mouth, and tore into it ravenously. Though it had no salt or oil, to a man who had not eaten a single grain in a hundred years, it was nothing less than a delicacy from heaven. Once the dragon meat entered his mouth, he couldn't stop. He devoured it greedily, gulping it down with a ferocity that matched—or even surpassed—Yun Che's own desperate eating when he had been half-starved. Yun Che smiled faintly, picked up his own piece, and began to gnaw on it, but he ate much more civilly than the demon man.
In the blink of an eye, the huge piece of dragon meat in the demon man's hands was completely demolished, all of it entering his stomach. After a century of emptiness, this hearty supplement caused a faint red glow to spread across his pale, lime-like face. He licked his fingers and laughed heartily. "Delicious! Truly satisfying! Never have I enjoyed a meal this much! Hahahaha... Little brother, I, Yun Canghai, have never owed anyone anything in my entire life! What you gave me was just a meal, but to me, it is a great kindness! I will remember this debt of gratitude! Unfortunately, there is no wine here—only meat. Otherwise, just for protecting my dignity and believing I am not a petty man, I would drink a whole toast with you!"
"Oh? Senior, you also bear the surname Yun?"
The demon man's eyes widened. "So you're telling me you're a Yun too? We've been sealed here together for half a year, and you stubborn brat wouldn't even tell me your surname. And it turns out we're from the same clan! Hahahaha!"
When Yun Che no longer regarded the demon man as a mortal enemy he had to kill, the man's aura did not disgust or frighten him; instead, it gave him a feeling of closeness. Yun Che smiled faintly and said, "This junior's surname is indeed Yun. My given name is Che."
"Yun Che... like the leisure of clouds, the clarity of water—an excellent name! It seems your father, when naming you, hoped you would live a life without worry, untouched by mortal dust. But unfortunately, you, a strange and unusual boy, were clearly not meant to be a fish in a pond. I'm afraid your parents were greatly disappointed."
Yun Che was slightly startled, a faint melancholy rising in his heart. On the Cang Yun Continent, his master had named him "Yun Che" with the hope that he would live a carefree life, his fate as clear as water, untouched by worldly strife. But in the end, his life had taken an entirely opposite extreme—a heart full of hatred, countless killings...
On the Tian Xuan Continent, his birth parents' expectations for him should have been the same as his master's.
Yun Che picked up the large bowl containing dragon blood, poured half of it into another bowl, and placed it before the demon man. "Senior, we are both sealed here together, and we share the same surname. That is quite a wondrous fate. For this shared suffering and mutual affliction, we truly should drink a bowl together. Though we have no fine wine, dragon blood is salty and strong—its taste is no less fierce than strong liquor. So I will use dragon blood as wine and offer a toast to you, Senior! I hope that after drinking this 'blood wine,' when the day comes that I kill you, Senior, you will not resent me on the road to the Yellow Springs."
The demon man took the bowl of dragon blood, lifted his eyes to look at Yun Che, and something new appeared in his gaze. "You and I are not of the same lineage, so there is no talk of seniority. If this blood wine is to be drunk, it should be I who toasts you... If you wish to toast me, then you must first bow to me as your master!"
"Ah?!" Yun Che's eyes widened and his mouth fell open, completely caught off guard. There was no hatred between them, but to put it bluntly, their relationship was one of life and death. Yun Che had voluntarily shared the dragon meat with him out of his own nature, seeking nothing in return. He never expected that a single meal would lead to this... Even if the demon man felt grateful, wasn't this too big a leap?
Become his master? What would he teach him? How to kill him sooner? That was really... Wait! Could it be that he was trying to...
"What? You're unwilling?" The demon man's eyes were sharp, showing no sign of a joke. "In my entire life, aside from guiding my own son in his early years, I have never formally accepted a disciple. Though your progress is astonishing and your potential immeasurable, with my abilities, I am more than qualified to be your master. In the Huan Yao Realm, how many people dream of becoming my disciple but never can!"
Given how seriously the Tian Wei Sword Domain regarded this demon man, one could imagine how fearsome a figure he was in the Huan Yao Realm. Yun Che did not doubt his words in the slightest. To a young Profound Practitioner, becoming the disciple of such a terrifyingly strong man—one who could still display King Xuan-level power even under a sealing formation—was an irresistible temptation and delight. The same applied to Yun Che. But unfortunately, he already had a master with him, an ultra-level master who had molded him into a freak. If he were to take another master in her presence...
The consequences would undoubtedly be severe!
"No, not at all!" Yun Che waved his hand and said seriously, "Senior, the fact that you can be so powerful even under the Tianwei Soul Suppression Array shows that your true strength is at a level I cannot even comprehend. To be able to become the disciple of a strongman like you would be my honor. I would never be unwilling. It's just... I already have a master. If I were to take you as another master, it would be very inappropriate."
"What does that matter!" The demon man waved his hand dismissively. "Can your current master possibly be more powerful than me?"
The demon man's words were filled with deep pride, and his arrogance was by no means baseless. Yun Che truly had no idea what kind of existence the Demon Emperor of the Huan Yao Realm—second only to the supreme ruler—really was.
But this demon man could never imagine what kind of being Yun Che's current master was.
Yun Che thought for a moment and said in the most tactful tone he could, "My master... might indeed be a little stronger than you, Senior."
"Hahahaha! Ridiculous!" The demon man laughed wildly. "In your Tian Xuan Continent, there are no more than five people who can match me in battle! Can your master possibly be stronger than the Sword Master of the Tian Wei Sword Domain?"
What the "Sword Master" was, Yun Che didn't know. But judging by the terrifying strength Mo Li had displayed, and the disdain she occasionally showed when mentioning the words "Tian Xuan Continent," it was enough to infer that even that so-called Sword Master wouldn't even be worth the flick of Mo Li's little finger.
Of course, if he said that out loud, the demon man would never believe it even if he were beaten to death.
Yun Che didn't explain further and said directly, "I know Senior means well, but I cannot accept. I cannot betray my current master."
With that, Yun Che picked up the bowl of dragon blood and gulped it down in one go. Then he showed the empty bowl to the demon man. "This bowl of blood wine is my apology for having to kill you, Senior... Senior, please."
The demon man twitched his brow, said nothing more, took the bowl, and downed it as well. Then he tossed the bowl back to Yun Che and said, "You won't take me as your master, and I have no right to force you. But I cannot eat your dragon meat and drink your dragon blood for free! You're determined to kill me, aren't you? Then I'll train you so you can kill me sooner! Over these six months, you've made rapid progress in your Profound Force by relying on dragon meat and dragon blood, but you haven't had the chance to solidify and stabilize it in battle. Our exchanges have been nothing but split-second, all-out attacks—completely useless! From today on, I will formally become your training partner!"
Clearly, the demon man still wanted to guide his training—to train someone who wanted to kill him, and had to kill him. It sounded extremely strange. But Yun Che vaguely understood his thoughts. He stepped back and said, "Senior, your body is chained. Even if you want to be my training partner, it seems..."
"Heh..." The demon man smiled faintly. "Do you think that just because I'm bound, I can't train you properly?"
As his voice fell, a flash of cyan light flickered on the demon man's left arm. A huge cyan palm appeared before him and shot toward Yun Che instantly.
It was the same strange palm that had pushed him away before. But this time, the power of the palm was clearly suppressed by the demon man. Though it still carried great pressure, it was not enough to completely overwhelm Yun Che. He quickly retreated, grabbed Dragon Gate, and struck upward, slashing down with his sword... To his great surprise, the cyan palm, which should have been a simple projection of power, suddenly shifted and dodged his sword as if it had a will of its own. Then its shape changed, transforming into a heavy sword identical to his Dragon Gate—except for its cyan color—and slammed violently toward his shoulder.
Over the past six months, Yun Che had attempted to fight the demon man many times and had encountered this strange cyan light that always appeared out of nowhere several times. His clashes with the demon man could at most last one or two exchanges, and this cyan light often appeared for only a split second. So he had always thought it was just a kind of Profound Force light used for attacks.
But after a Profound Force light leaves the body, its power rapidly diminishes as it travels. Now, to his shock, he found that this cyan light could not only take any shape but was also incredibly fast, and its aura never weakened in the slightest—as if it were an independent living being!
Sometimes it was a palm, sometimes a sword, sometimes a shield, sometimes a spear... sometimes large, sometimes small, sometimes slow, sometimes fast. Even though the demon man deliberately suppressed its power, it still overwhelmed Yun Che, leaving him flustered and unable to keep up. It was even more embarrassing than facing a cultivator of the same level! He let out a roar, used Falling Moon and Sinking Star to force the cyan light back, retreated quickly, and asked urgently, "What kind of strange thing is this?!"
The demon man smiled faintly, and with a flash of light on his left arm, the transformed heavy sword turned back into cyan light and returned to his arm. "This... is my Arcane Firmament! It is a special power body derived from my Profound Veins and bloodline, controlled by my soul, yet able to exist independently of my soul. It can transform into a thousand forms and can fully execute all my techniques... It is the unique divine ability of our Huan Yao Imperial Clan!"
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