# Chapter 545: Yun Che Strikes
"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Huai Wang tilted his head back and laughed, shaking his head, his face full of mockery: "Tsk tsk tsk tsk, the Yun Clan, which was once ranked first among the Twelve Guardian Clans and had been glorious for a full ten thousand years, now doesn't even have the courage to accept a challenge. They need other clans to shelter them. How pitiful and lamentable. Such a Yun Clan no longer even qualifies for me to look at them squarely. If they can still remain among the Guardian Clans, that would be the biggest joke under heaven, truly the greatest laughingstock of our Illusion Demon Realm, ha ha ha ha."
"Brother Yun, don't listen to him!" Su Xiangnan said with a furrowed brow: "He's just provoking you. Your Yun Clan's glory is seen by everyone under heaven, and no one can erase it. I believe more than anyone that the Yun Clan's low point is only temporary. The Yun Clan has you, Yun Qinghong, and the protection of your Yun Clan ancestors' souls. A day of resurgence will surely come!"
"I fully agree with what Clan Master Su said." Yan Zijing nodded heavily, then directly condensed profound energy into sound and transmitted it to Yun Qinghong: "You absolutely must not accept! Otherwise, there will be no turning back. Even our clans and princely mansions will suffer a heavy blow."
Under everyone's gaze, Yun Qinghong slowly stood up. He was not flustered, nor did he show any anger. Instead, he looked at Huai Wang and gave a faint smile: "I agree with what Che'er said. This battle, of course, our Yun Clan will accept!"
"What!" Mu Yubai, Mu Yukong, and Mu Yuqing, the three brothers, roared out simultaneously: "Brother-in-law, have you gone crazy?!"
"Not crazy." Yun Qinghong said with a light, cheerful laugh. Though he was clearly at the forefront of the storm, he was the calmest among them all: "When someone challenges us, our Yun Clan naturally fights. This has nothing to do with whether it affects our Yun Clan's fate. For ten thousand years, our Yun Clan has faced countless challenges. We have won countless times and also lost before, but we have never been cowards!"
"If someone dares to fight, our Yun Clan dares to accept! Our Yun Clan can lose, and we can afford to lose, but even if we lose completely and utterly, we will never lose our dignity!!"
Yun Qinghong's words carried weight, piercing straight through to the heart, echoing for a long time within the hall. They stirred deep admiration and submission in the hearts of countless people.
Old Master Mu raised his hand, as if about to say something, but after a moment of hesitation, he finally lowered it and sighed: "Ah, I knew you would make this decision. You people of the Yun Clan are all stubborn like this. Yun Canghai was, and you, boy, are too... Ah, forget it, forget it. Since you choose to accept the challenge, then our Mu Clan will fight alongside you."
"Heh heh, with this spirit, you are still the same Yun Qinghong from twenty-five years ago!" Su Xiangnan was silent for a while, then laughed in relief: "In that case, our Su Clan will definitely do our utmost to help!"
"Count our Tianxia Clan in!" Tianxia Xiongtu said in a loud voice: "Since Brother Yun has said this, we will advance and retreat together!"
"And of course our Yan Clan cannot be left out!" Yan Zijing nodded heavily to Yun Qinghong.
On the throne, Xiao Yaohou, who had remained silent under Yun Qinghong's earnest persuasion, her eyes flickering, looked at the Yun, Tianxia, Su, Mu, and Yan Clans on the left... She had long known about Huai Wang's ambition, and she clearly saw the severity of the situation.
Yet under these circumstances, these five clans were still willing to stand firmly by her side. This untainted loyalty, and the heroic spirit they jointly erupted with in the face of this almost certain defeat, caused her heart—frozen for a hundred years by resentment and grief—to experience the emotion of "being moved" for the first time.
"Heh heh heh heh, after all, Yun Qinghong is still Yun Qinghong," Huai Wang's lips curled up: "You did not disappoint me. Even knowing you will certainly lose, you are still unwilling to be a turtle hiding in its shell."
"But you disappointed me." In Yun Qinghong's calm tone was profound disdain.
This calmness and disdain made Huai Wang feel extremely uncomfortable inside. He gave a cold snort and directly averted his gaze.
At this moment, Yun Che stepped forward and said in a voice loud enough for those around him to hear: "Father, may I speak a few words to this Prince Huai on your behalf?"
Yun Qinghong glanced at him and slowly nodded.
"Good!" Yun Che raised his head and directly faced Prince Huai. His question to Yun Qinghong and this action of his drew everyone's attention to him.
Earlier, Xiao Yaohou had asked Yun Qinghong about his identity, making everyone present know that he was not a member of the Yun Clan, but Yun Qinghong's adopted son. His earlier rash shout of "Accept the battle" before Yun Qinghong had spoken had earned him much contempt from many. Now, his sudden intention to step forward and speak to Huai Wang also drew sneers.
"Oh? You have something to say to me?" Prince Huai glanced at him askance and said with a faint smile.
"I just want to ask Prince Huai a few questions." Yun Che had a harmless, innocent smile: "In this battle you proposed, if we lose, our Yun Clan will have to withdraw from the ranks of the Guardian Clans, right?"
"That's right." Prince Huai gave a mocking smile: "As for the reason, I believe I have stated it clearly enough."
"Oh!" Yun Che nodded, then said: "Then, if we win, what benefits do we get?"
"Win? Ha ha ha ha." Prince Huai tilted his head, then threw his head back and laughed. On the east side, a whole group instantly collapsed into laughter, as if they had collectively heard the world's biggest joke. Even on the west side, there were twitching expressions.
Yun Che said with a smiling face: "Oh? What does Prince Huai's laughter mean? Since it is a contest of strength between both sides, then there is winning and losing. And in this world, there is no contest where one side can 'definitely' win! If there were, then this contest would be utterly meaningless. And since it's meaningless, naturally there is no need to proceed with it... Prince Huai, don't you agree?"
Huai Wang's smile faded, and for the first time, he looked at Yun Che with an interested gaze. The young man before him was extremely calm and composed when facing him, his eyes barely wavering. From him, Huai Wang vaguely saw a shadow of Yun Qinghong. He gave a faint smile and said: "What you said is very correct. Since it is a contest, naturally either side can lose, and either side can win. But aren't the consequences of who wins and who loses already clear enough? If we win, your Yun Clan will leave the Guardian Clans. And if you win, naturally you will remain among the Guardian Clans, and we opponents will have nothing more to say."
"Doesn't Prince Huai find his own words ridiculous?" Yun Che's expression changed, and he suddenly revealed a mocking smile.
"Ridiculous?" Huai Wang raised an eyebrow.
"Not just ridiculous, but utterly ridiculous to the extreme." Yun Che's gaze became aggressive, even carrying a clear color of contempt as he faced this dignified Huai Wang: "If we lose, the entire Yun Clan will have to leave the place where we have stayed for a full ten thousand years. The fate of tens of thousands of clan members will be turned upside down, with consequences that are extremely tragic."
"And if you lose, there are no consequences at all!" Yun Che sneered: "How can there be such an unfair thing under heaven! This contest can be called a gambling game. The stake on our side is the fate of our Yun Clan. And you... you don't even have a stake! What comparison can there be in a contest that lacks even this most basic fairness?"
Prince Huai narrowed his eyes, then laughed loudly: "Ha ha ha ha, Yun Qinghong, you really have a good son. He actually knows how to advance in order to retreat. But such a clumsy method to make me give up is too laughable. You want a stake from our side, is that it? Fine, I'll grant you this opportunity. Go ahead and tell us what stake you think our side should put up."
"Since Prince Huai has said so, I won't be polite." Yun Che confidently reached out his hand, pointing toward the seven Guardian Clans behind Huai Wang, and said: "If we ultimately win, then the Helian, Chiyang, Bai, Nangong, Lin, Jiufang, and Xiao Clans must each hand over five jin of Purple Vein Divine Crystal to our Yun Clan within one month! And you, Prince Huai, must scrape together twenty jin of Purple Vein Divine Crystal and deliver it to the doorstep of our Yun Clan!"
The moment Yun Che's words were spoken, everyone in the hall was utterly dumbfounded. The seven Guardian Clans on the east side changed color dramatically. Even the muscles on Yun Qinghong's face twitched violently.
If they lose... each clan hands over five jin of Purple Vein Divine Crystal to the Yun Clan... five jin of Purple Vein Divine Crystal, not Purple Vein Heavenly Crystal, not even ordinary Purple Crystal!
Five jin of Purple Vein Heavenly Crystal would already be worth a kingdom. But Purple Vein Divine Crystal—that is something that can be called a sacred treasure of heaven and earth. In the worldview of over ninety-nine percent of Illusion Demon Realm inhabitants, it is a sacred object that exists only in legends, too precious to even be described merely as "precious."
A full five jin of Purple Vein Divine Crystal—even for a Guardian Clan possessing the highest level of strength, resources, and foundation, it would take at least a hundred years to accumulate five jin!
With the power of five jin of Purple Vein Divine Crystal and the foundation of a Guardian Clan, they could easily cultivate at least five Overlord Emperors under thirty years old. The key reason the younger disciples of the Yun Clan in this generation had plummeted in strength was the severe restriction of resources, especially Purple Vein Divine Crystal... in the past hundred years, they had not obtained a single bit.
If any Guardian Clan actually handed over five jin of Purple Vein Divine Crystal, then in the next hundred years, their generation's strength would plummet just like the Yun Clan's... And the Yun Clan, having gathered a large amount of Purple Vein Divine Crystal from seven clans, would find it hard not to rise strongly.
Moreover, on top of that, there was a full twenty jin from Huai Wang... Even if Prince Huai thoroughly ransacked all sixty of the princely mansions leaning toward him, he might not necessarily scrape together twenty jin. And if he actually did that, it would certainly cause many of those princely mansions to feel dissatisfied or even resentful.
This "stake" that Yun Che had shouted out was nothing short of a lion's mouth wide open!!
Thus, even knowing that their side absolutely could not lose, the seven clans and the various princely mansions all changed color dramatically. Several clan masters trembled all over, wishing they could point at Yun Che's nose and curse him thoroughly.
Faced with such a "stake," Huai Wang also became somewhat unsettled. He gave a disdainful laugh and said: "I didn't expect that although you are young, your appetite is extremely large. However, let alone you being just an adopted son of Yun Qinghong, even if the Demon King Yun Canghai were still alive, he would have no right to command me and the clans and mansions behind me. Why should we listen to you if we lose, hmm?"
"Prince Huai asks a good question!" Huai Wang's words, however, did not leave Yun Che speechless. Instead, his voice suddenly rose several tones: "Then I will give Prince Huai the clearest answer: Because if we win, it proves we are stronger than you! Between heaven and earth, strength is supreme! Those who possess greater strength possess greater say and control! The strong have the qualification to decide everything, while the weak do not even have the qualification to refuse the decisions of the strong! No matter which world, which level, it is all the same!"
"Is this answer satisfactory to Your Highness the Prince?"
Huai Wang's face instantly stiffened, and everyone was once again dumbfounded.
This was the impassioned, ambitious speech that Prince Huai had shouted out earlier when facing Tianxia Xiongtu's questioning—but now Yun Che had thrown it back in Prince Huai's face, word for word, unchanged.
"Those were Prince Huai's own words. I wonder if Prince Huai still remembers them?" Yun Che said with a beaming smile: "Oh, if Prince Huai considers his own words as nothing but flatulence, then pretend I didn't say anything, heh heh, pretend I didn't say anything."
On the west side, quite a few people were grinning and gritting their teeth. Old Master Mu Feiyan smacked his lips and said: "Tsk tsk, this kid... although he can't win, even if he demanded a hundred times more it would be useless, being able to disgust this guy is still satisfying!"
Huai Wang's face darkened slightly, and he was silent for a long while. In this world, the hardest thing to refute is one's own words... because to refute them is undoubtedly to slap oneself in the face.
"Presumptuous junior! Where do you get the right to speak here?!" Jiufang Clan Master Jiufang Kui could no longer hold back, standing up and roaring. Faced with a full five jin of Purple Vein Divine Crystal, no one in the entire Illusion Demon Realm could remain calm.
"Prince Huai, pay no attention to this junior!" Helian Peng said in a deep voice: "Yun Che, what do you think you are? What qualification do you have to shout before Prince Huai? Get lost immediately!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Yun Che threw his head back and laughed. He shook his head, looking at Huai Wang and the seven Guardian Clan masters, his face full of disdain and mockery: "If we lose, our Yun Clan will lose ten thousand years of mission, status, and glory. Yet even facing such cruel consequences, our Yun Clan, under absolute disadvantage, still dares to fight!"
"And if you lose, you only lose five jin of Purple Vein Divine Crystal! Compared to our Yun Clan's ten thousand years of glory, let alone five jin, even five hundred jin would be utterly insignificant! But what a pity, truly a pity... When you were shouting to expel our Yun Clan, you were all more excited than the next. But now, when you are absolutely dominant, facing a stake that is millions of times smaller than our Yun Clan's, you're all such cowards! Tsk tsk tsk tsk, how ridiculous and pitiful. Being called one of the Twelve Guardian Clans alongside a bunch like you, I feel ashamed for our Yun Clan!"
"You!!"
"And you, Prince Huai!" Yun Che completely ignored the murderous looks from the clan masters, staring at Huai Wang with a cold smile: "You keep calling for a bunch of people to expel our Yun Clan, keep wanting to have a contest, keep saying it's for the entire Illusion Demon Realm... I thought you had such great courage, but it turns out you're nothing more than this! I only proposed a stake far smaller than ours, yet you don't even have the guts to agree, needing the people behind you to shout for protection! Heh heh, compared to my father... oh no no, now it seems, you don't even qualify to be compared with my father!"
With that, Yun Che couldn't even be bothered to look at Prince Huai anymore. He turned to Yun Qinghong and said: "Father, I think we shouldn't bother with this contest anymore. The other side is just a bunch of ridiculous cowards. Bothering with them would only lower our Yun Clan's standing."