Chapter 477: Ice Flame Appears Again
Clang!
Clang!
The two halves of the broken Dragon Que fell to the left and right of Yun Che, heavy and still, with no further movement. At the tip of the blade, the ferocious dragon head slowly lost its breath, and the dragon's eyes completely lost their luster, turning a dead gray.
Yun Che slumped to the ground, staring blankly ahead, unable to snap out of it for a long time. After a while, he reached out his arm, trying to summon Dragon Que as he used to... but Dragon Que was broken. Its immature spirit had dissipated along with its fracture, and it showed no response to his call.
Yun Che stood up, silently picked up the two halves of Dragon Que, then sat down in the corner, staring blankly at the broken blade.
Four years ago, he had obtained Dragon Que in the Dragon God Trial Ground. Later, under the power of the Primordial Azure Dragon's remnant soul, it had been elevated to become a King Sword. During that time, it had cut through thorns and thistles alongside Yun Che, fighting shoulder to shoulder. It was another arm for Yun Che, and his most trusted companion. They had each made the other renowned.
But now, it had broken, and in his hands, shattered by his own strength.
"Your current strength is no longer what it used to be. After all, it was just a King Sword. Your full-powered state today is already beyond what it can bear. This stone door is also extremely hard. Almost all of your strength was reflected back, so it's only natural that it would break." Mo Li said calmly. When Yun Che had activated the Purgatory state for himself, she had basically already foreseen this outcome.
"Ah..." Yun Che let out a long sigh. He carefully picked up Dragon Que, slowly stroked its cold blade, and said softly, "Old friend, you've fought alongside me for so many years. I never thought you would end up destroyed by my own hands... But it's okay, you should rest well now. After I leave this place, I'll find a way to repair you."
After muttering this, he put Dragon Que away. His heart quickly calmed down. He fixed his gaze on the spot where Dragon Que had struck.
There, there was no longer just a white dot, but a small indentation!!
Yun Che's spirit was jolted, and he quickly moved closer. He hadn't misseen. On the smooth stone door, sure enough, a very small indentation had appeared. This indentation was only half the size of the nail on his pinky finger, and in depth, it was only about the thickness of a piece of paper. But it was indeed decently considered a dent.
However, Yun Che felt no trace of surprise. Because this dent had been bought at the cost of Dragon Que's destruction. Now that Dragon Que was gone, relying solely on his body, it was basically impossible to create such a dent again.
"Please... find her..."
Yun Che, who was staring blankly at the small dent, suddenly raised his head and looked forward.
"What is it?" Mo Li asked.
"...I heard that voice again. The same voice I heard on the first day I entered the Primordial Mystic Ark." Yun Che stood up. After the spatial turbulence struck, all his energy had been focused on resisting the spatial turbulence. His ears were filled only with the sounds of spatial tearing and chaos, nothing else. And even if this voice had sounded during that time, it would have been completely drowned out by the noise of the spatial turbulence.
Now that the spatial turbulence had stopped, that indescribably ethereal and strange voice from nowhere was sounding again.
"What exactly did you hear?" Mo Li frowned.
Yun Che thought for a moment and then said, "Before, that voice was intermittent, sounding once after a long time. It seemed to be telling me to find someone... then save him... and it seemed to mention the Heavenly Poison Pearl. Just now, that voice rang again, saying 'Please find her'... still telling me to find someone."
"That voice mentioned the Heavenly Poison Pearl?" Mo Li's gaze moved. After pondering for a while, she said, "Don't worry about that voice for now. You're trapped inside here, unable to save even yourself. How could you possibly save someone else? Think carefully about how to get out of here first."
Yun Che nodded. He sat cross-legged on the ground. After racking his brains for half a day, he took out from the Heavenly Poison Pearl the Flame Dragon Heart he hadn't been willing to eat, roasted it with Phoenix Flame, and began to wolf it down. He hadn't eaten for over a year. Although his bodily functions hadn't been greatly affected, his stomach had long been growling with hunger. In both his lifetimes, he had never gone this long with an empty stomach.
Soon, Yun Che was full. He also drank a large bowl of dragon blood. He patted his belly, let out a contented sigh, and then suddenly asked, "Mo Li, how long have I been in here?"
"Eighteen months."
"Eighteen months... it's been that long already." Yun Che showed surprise, then turned his head to look at Mo Li: "If it's been that long, then the seal you placed on yourself should have been lifted by now, right?"
Mo Li glanced at him and said coldly, "What, you want to use my power to get out of here?"
"If your power has recovered, that would of course be the best way." Yun Che's face was full of hope: "It's been over three years since you sealed your power. According to the time frame you mentioned back then, your power should have recovered by now."
"If you want to rely on my power to leave here, then you should give up on that idea." Mo Li turned her face away and said bluntly: "When my power recovers, I will naturally tell you."
"Meaning your power still hasn't recovered?" Yun Che's face showed frustration and disappointment, but these emotions quickly disappeared. He looked at Mo Li, suddenly smiled, then walked over and stood in front of her. Under her astonished gaze, he lightly embraced her.
Mo Li had never expected him to suddenly do such a thing. She instinctively struggled, but her "powerless" body was no match for Yun Che's arms. She said angrily and flusteredly, "You... what are you doing!?"
"Of course I'm hugging you." Yun Che said with a smile: "After sending Xue'er away, I thought I was already dead for sure. Unexpectedly, I survived again... This feeling of not losing my life, not losing hope, and not losing you is really wonderful, so I suddenly wanted to hold you properly."
"...I am your master! Did I allow you to hug me!?" Mo Li struggled weakly, trying to sound as angry as possible.
Yun Che said innocently: "This... what's wrong with a hug? Back then, I even kissed you, and you weren't too angry then."
What he referred to as kissing her was the time when they had encountered a Flame Dragon, and Mo Li used her power to kill it, causing her own poison to flare up, nearly destroying her soul. Yun Che had saved her by feeding her mouth-to-mouth with a large amount of his own blood...
Mo Li certainly hadn't forgotten that. Yun Che's sudden mention made her body stiffen, and then she became enraged with shame. Her anger and killing intent erupted. Instead of struggling further, she no longer resisted, and said in an extremely cold voice, "Let go!"
However, although she strained to make her aura intimidating, she truly had no intention to kill Yun Che. Even her anger was mostly from embarrassment, so it wasn't enough to intimidate Yun Che in the slightest. Yun Che's lips twitched, and he muttered "Alright" a bit gloomily, then released his arms from around Mo Li.
Mo Li quickly stepped back, staring at Yun Che with a furious expression: "If you dare to touch me without my permission again in the future, believe me, after I recover my power, I'll break your hands!"
Yun Che pressed the tip of his nose and slowly nodded: "Oh... you've reminded me. After you recover your power, I'll never be able to hug you again. So... shouldn't I take this chance to hug you a bit more?"
With that, Yun Che squinted his eyes, stepped forward, and made as if to hug her again.
"You!" Mo Li bit her lip, clenched her small fists, let out a heavy "Hmph", and directly turned into a red light that vanished before Yun Che's eyes, returning to the Heavenly Poison Pearl.
"You scoundrel who goes around deceiving and bullying girls, the most hateful lecher in my brother's words! Now you even dare to extend your demonic hand to this princess! If not for... if not for... I would definitely kill you! Hmph!"
Mo Li let out an angry snort and then went silent. No matter what Yun Che said, she ignored him.
Yun Che sat down in front of the stone door, his gaze fixed on that small dent. He closed his eyes and concentrated on thinking of a way out. After remaining motionless for several hours, he suddenly opened his eyes. A strange light flickered in them.
He raised both hands, palms facing upward, resting them on his knees. Then, in the same instant, his right hand blazed with hot Phoenix Flame, and his left hand grew a small Ice God tree.
Yun Che closed his eyes again, his chest heaving violently, and then he breathed slowly and deeply. His breath was noticeably heavier than usual. In the silence, the heat from the Phoenix Flame in the air and the cold from the Ice God began to stir chaotically... Heat and cold initially canceled each other out. This was one of the basic laws of the natural world. But as time passed, the heat and cold that should have canceled each other began to separate and strengthen.
Two hours later, this narrow space was gradually divided into two different worlds. Half was as hot as lava, the other half as cold as an ice hell.
The two worlds that should have canceled each other out actually became sharply distinct in a space with no separation whatsoever, completely independent of each other!
At this moment, Yun Che finally moved. Slowly, he brought his left hand, which maintained the Ice God, and his right hand, blazing with Phoenix Flame, closer together little by little. His movements were extremely careful and cautious. From his expression, it seemed that every millimeter of movement cost him immense mental effort and strength... A distance of a foot took a full thirty breaths before his left and right hands touched.
The Phoenix Flame and the Ice God also touched at that moment... The Ice God did not melt, nor was the Phoenix Flame suppressed. The crimson Phoenix Flame and the ice-blue Ice God intertwined with each other. The Ice God merged into the Phoenix Flame, the Phoenix Flame merged into the Ice God, and then they fused completely and perfectly into one, forming a cluster of eerie flame that gently flickered with an ice-blue light.
At the same time, the originally distinct worlds of ice and heat in the space also merged into one. But this fusion was not a suppression or cancellation of cold and heat, ice and fire. Instead, extreme cold and extreme heat coexisted simultaneously, chaotically intertwined and interwoven.
"Success..." Yun Che opened his eyes, staring at the Ice Flame dancing in his palm... Back then, at the Bing Yun Fairy Palace, the first time he had successfully fused this heaven-defying Ice Flame, it had taken him a full two days.
This was his second success... With his explosive increase in strength and mental power, and his higher-level understanding of the laws of the world, this time, he had only used a short two hours!
Moreover, because the power of the Phoenix Flame and the Ice God Divine Art had increased dramatically with his improved strength, this Ice Flame was undoubtedly far more powerful than the one he had fused at the Bing Yun Fairy Palace!
Yun Che's hands, holding the Ice Flame, were trembling. He was almost losing control of this cluster of flame. Such a fusion, which defied the laws of heaven and earth, produced power that also defied the laws of heaven and earth. Although it was just a small cluster of flame, it consumed nearly seventy percent of Yun Che's profound force and fifty percent of his spiritual power.
"Please... don't let me down."
Yun Che murmured, then narrowed his eyes. He pushed his hands forward with all his might, blasting the cluster of Ice Flame against the stone door in front of him.