Chapter 813: Exploring the Slay Moon Demon Cave Again
The Qiong Sword Heavenly Palace, the largest Mysterious Ark of the Tian Wei Sword Domain, was several miles long.
It was now flying back to the Tian Wei Sword Domain at its fastest speed, but the atmosphere inside the ark was unprecedentedly oppressive.
"Sword Master, are your injuries all right?" A sword domain elder asked with deep concern. The three sword attendants had died, and twenty-five elders had perished—including seven who ranked among the top ten. Now, this elder, originally ranked fifth, had become the foremost figure beneath the Sword Master of the Tian Wei Sword Domain. How tragic and sorrowful.
Recalling everything that had happened today on the Sea God Platform of the Supreme Sea Palace felt like the most absurd and terrifying nightmare.
"The injury is nothing serious. She never intended to kill me from the start; she didn't even strike heavily." Xuanyuan Wentian pressed his right arm with his left hand. As he spoke, there was no trace of relief in his voice. Because the other party's actions were simply meant to let Yun Che kill him personally in the future, treating him as nothing more than a tool that might still be useful later.
The word "she" caused all the sword domain elders to shudder. The lingering fear that had not dissipated was like a demon awakened from the depths of their souls, sending chills through their entire bodies.
"Sword Master, that person... who exactly is she? How could such a terrifying person exist in this world?" Xuanyuan Jue said in extreme terror. Before the Demon Sword Assembly, he had furiously attacked, thinking he knew Yun Che's "background" and intending to kill him publicly. Now, thinking back, the fact that he was still alive was practically a life stolen by luck.
"I don't know." Xuanyuan Wentian shook his head. His face was ashen, devoid of any of his usual pride and authority. "But she... she must not be a person of this world!"
"Not... a person of this world?"
"That point doesn't matter at all." Xuanyuan Wentian frowned and looked at Xuanyuan Wendao. "Wendao, on the Sea God Platform, after she destroyed our Northern Domain, she didn't continue asking me who killed Xiao Ying in Liuyun City back then... because she already knew it was you. She didn't need to ask again."
"Wh... what!?" Xuanyuan Wendao's face instantly turned pale with terror.
"Hmph!" Xuanyuan Wentian gritted his teeth. "When she asked that question back then, you were so scared you couldn't even stand. With her terrifying level, how could she not have noticed!"
"Then... what do we do... what do we do..." Xuanyuan Wendao was so frightened his whole body went limp, and his legs trembled.
"Hmph!" Xuanyuan Wentian's face darkened. "Who can be blamed for all this? Only your own stupidity and arrogance back then! You saw that Xiao Ying was stubborn, so you killed him casually without either searching his soul or wiping out his entire clan. If you had, there would be no Yun Che today, and no great disaster today!"
"I... I..." Xuanyuan Wendao shook as if he might collapse, unable to speak.
"Sword Master, what happened back then cannot be entirely blamed on the young master." Xuanyuan Jue said cautiously. "Who could have imagined that a nobody from little Liuyun City would be sworn brothers with Yun Qinghong? Even if it had been this old man, hearing that he had contact with Yun Qinghong, I wouldn't have believed that any useful information could really be obtained from him, let alone waste energy on soul searching and exterminating his clan. Besides, the young master was still young at the time..."
"Enough! Don't make excuses for him." Xuanyuan Wentian's brows were nearly vertical. "Wendao, after experiencing today's events, do you finally understand why I have pursued power at all costs my entire life? In this world, only with absolute power can you have absolute authority, and can you freely decide the fate and life of others... That person, because she possesses absolute power, in her presence, even I, Xuanyuan Wentian, am nothing but a dog that can be trampled at will!"
"Father, what should we do now... what should we do... Could it be that we can only... wait for death..." Xuanyuan Wendao was completely at a loss. As the young master of the Sword Domain, from birth until yesterday, he had never known what "danger" meant. But now, the most terrifying death threat in this world had suddenly fallen upon him.
"Wait for death? Why must we die?" Blood flowed between Xuanyuan Wentian's fingers as he said fiercely, "Wendao, have you forgotten all the teachings I have given you since childhood? You are my son, Xuanyuan Wentian; you must survive! What integrity, what pride—they are all bullshit in the face of survival! Even if you endure humiliation and lose all dignity, you must crawl and live on... because only by living can there be any possibility!"
Xuanyuan Wendao was stunned and said tremblingly, "Father, you mean..."
Xuanyuan Wentian took a deep breath. "Nineteen days from now, Xue Gongzhu is to be engaged to Yun Che... At that time, we father and son must personally attend, bring the greatest gifts, and set aside all our pride... Regarding what you did back then with Xiao Ying, even if it means kneeling, prostrating tens of thousands of times, and letting those from the Xiao family who want revenge abuse and trample you like a dog... as long as it makes Yun Che spare your life, we can do anything and endure anything!"
"A man's strength lies not in how abundant his resources are, but in how great a humiliation he can endure! If you can do these things, I will be able to entrust the Tian Wei Sword Domain to you with peace of mind."
Xuanyuan Wentian's words made Xuanyuan Wendao's body tremble even more violently. He nodded with vacant eyes, "Father... I... I understand..."
"...Nine Tripods, have someone keep an eye on Fen Juechen's movements at all times." After saying this, Xuanyuan Wentian closed his eyes wearily.
"Yes, Sword Master." Xuanyuan Jiuding's response was weak and gloomy.
———————————
Supreme Sea Palace.
Returning to the Tai Zun Cloud Pavilion, Yun Che carefully set Xiao Yun down, then placed his right palm on Xiao Yun's forehead and slowly infused the world spirit energy he had gathered through the Great Dao Pagoda Art. Although Xiao Yun's soul had not been severely damaged, it had been greatly depleted. Without auxiliary recovery, he would remain unconscious for a long time. Yun Che wanted him to wake up early so he could take him back to Liuyun City.
Mo Li glanced at him, then turned her face away, her back to him, and also to Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue'er, who had entered together and were very nervous.
Xia Yuanba's hands clenched and unclenched. He opened his mouth several times but didn't know how to address Mo Li. After a moment of anxious hesitation, a sudden spark of inspiration hit him... Although Yun Che had said her age was even younger than his, she was still Yun Che's master, so she was naturally one generation above Yun Che, regardless of age. Being one generation above Yun Che meant she was also one generation above him.
Xia Yuanba immediately steadied himself. When he spoke, his voice was still full of tension: "Sen... Senior, the younger generation's Xia..."
"Get out!" Mo Li didn't turn her head but said coldly.
"..." Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue'er were both stunned. They pitifully cast help-seeking glances at Yun Che.
"Xue'er, go back to your imperial father first; he must have a lot to say to you. Yuanba, thank Gu Cang Senior on my behalf... Ahem, my master isn't used to seeing people other than me, and she might have something special to say to me." Yun Che said with a headache. Although Mo Li's personality had been subtly changing over the years, the one constant was her arrogance. Nothing in the Tian Xuan Continent had ever been worthy of her attention... not even people. Even when talking about Dragon God remnant souls and Golden Crow soul spirits, she clearly spoke with a disdainful tone.
"Ah... sure, sure." Xia Yuanba nodded hastily. "Xue'er sister, let's go out first."
"Mm..." Feng Xue'er obediently replied. As early as on the Sea God Platform, she had been frightened several times by Mo Li's aura and ruthless methods, losing her color.
Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue'er left with nervous hearts. Yun Che said with a full of grievance, "Mo Li, can't you be just a little gentler? Yuanbas, I don't care about him, but what about my Xue'er?"
"Hmph, what do I care if they live or die?" Mo Li said dismissively.
Yun Che shrugged and looked Mo Li up and down, his eyes shining. "Mo Li, your reconstructed body is exactly the same as before, not a single change. Mm... let me touch it and see if the feel of your body is different from before."
"Scram!" Mo Li slapped Yun Che's outstretched hand away, even stepping back nervously. Then she raised her delicate brows and said sternly, "Because of your abnormal life vein, the perfection of this new body of mine has indeed exceeded expectations. In terms of time, it will also be longer than expected—at least thirty years with no problems. As long as another complete Netherworld Brahma Flower is found within thirty years, there will be no more trouble."
"Mo Li, I want to ask you something one more time: What level is your strength... exactly?" Yun Che asked with full seriousness. Remembering her earth-shattering actions on the Sea God Platform, his eyes unconsciously widened a few points. "The Tian Wei Sword Domain is about seventy to eighty thousand miles away from here, yet you actually... actually..."
"That's because the space here is too fragile." Mo Li said disdainfully.
"Space... too fragile?" Yun Che looked confused.
"The spatial laws of this planet are extremely low-level. Not to mention a spatial translocation spanning a mere seventy to eighty thousand miles, even instantly crossing a million miles of space would be an easy task." Mo Li's voice was calm, as if she were saying something very ordinary. "If it were in the world I was born in, the same feat would be impossible with my current strength."
Mo Li turned around. "To put it another way, with your current strength, without using your full power, you could shatter a large expanse of space with one sword. But if you were in a world with very high spatial laws—like the world I was born in—even if your profound strength were ten times stronger, with full power, you wouldn't even cause the slightest distortion, let alone collapse space."
"..." Yun Che opened his mouth, shocked inside. He also noticed that Mo Li had said "with my current strength..."
"Then... what fraction is your current strength compared to your peak?"
Mo Li looked at her own palm, as white as porcelain jade, then gently clenched her fist. "Less than one-tenth."
"! #¥%..." Yun Che silently sucked in a breath of cold air. With less than one-tenth of her power, she was already this terrifying. How strong was Mo Li at full strength? Was the world she came from really full of such monsters?
"However, with my body reconstructed, my power will naturally recover quickly. With my current physical condition, it will only take about a year for my power to fully recover." As Mo Li said this, her tone was light, and her diamond-like eyes held no joy whatsoever.
"Then..."
He only uttered one word before the rest got stuck in his throat, unable to come out. He wanted to ask Mo Li, now that her body was reconstructed and she no longer had to be forced to depend on his life, where would she go next? Would she go back to the home she had left seven years ago, or...
He didn't dare to ask.
Afraid of getting an answer he dreaded hearing.
"Then... why did you say you want to stay in the Supreme Sea Palace for one more day?" Yun Che asked another question, but his tone had become unusually unnatural.
Mo Li slowly turned her eyes toward the south, her crescent-like brows slightly furrowed. "I want to go to the Slay Moon Demon Cave again."
"Now that I have a new body and am no longer a pure soul form, the demonic aura of the Slay Moon Demon Cave has no effect on me at all. I must go see what it is that can emit such a high-level dark aura."