Chapter 821: Dangerous Premonition
"Why?" Yun Che asked in confusion. "What secret is hidden there? Is it extremely dangerous?"
Mo Li's words undoubtedly indicated that the secret hidden beneath Jueyun Cliff was far from ordinary.
"Dangerous is an understatement." Mo Li said sternly. "I cannot tell you what is hidden beneath Jueyun Cliff. But its terror far exceeds anything you can imagine."
Yun Che: "..."
Mo Li glanced at Yun Che, her voice softening slightly: "The source of darkness in the Slay Moon Demon Cave, the secrets at the bottom of Jueyun Cliff—I haven't told you about either. It's not because I don't want to, or because I distrust you, but rather..."
Mo Li looked up, her expression becoming unprecedentedly grave: "I originally thought that this world was nothing more than an ordinary, even somewhat low-level existence among the trillions of planets in the vast universe. If I hadn't learned that the Evil God Seed had fallen here, I would never have come. But as I gradually came to know some of the hidden things in this world, I realized that this world is far from simple. Its complexity and mystery have completely surpassed my imagination and have even shattered my understanding several times."
"..." Yun Che was stunned.
"If these secrets were to leak out and be known by the people of the God Realm, then this world you inhabit would fall into endless catastrophe." Mo Li closed her eyes. "So, it's best that only I know about some things."
After a brief silence, Mo Li softly added: "Even you cannot be told. Naturally, no one else can ever know either."
Although his heart was still full of curiosity and doubt, Mo Li's words—especially her last sentence—made Yun Che lose all desire to press further. The discomfort and disappointment in his heart vanished completely as he nodded solemnly: "I understand! From now on, no matter when, I will never approach Jueyun Cliff. Even if I have to go to Jueyun Cliff for some special reason, I will absolutely never try to investigate the secrets below... I will definitely keep my promise to Mo Li."
"Good." Mo Li breathed a slight sigh of relief... Yun Che had never broken a promise to her, especially when it came to risking his life to obtain the Netherworld Brahma Flower for her, enduring the soul-separation pain that ordinary people couldn't bear even in a hundred lifetimes.
"The Cang Yun Continent is too far away. Even for me, traveling back and forth requires considerable effort. And now your injuries and profound strength haven't recovered yet. In a little over ten days, there's some... hmph, engagement banquet. Let's wait until you're done with all these messy affairs before I take you to the Cang Yun Continent. Otherwise, you'll be too preoccupied with two women to handle everything, wasting my efforts. Hmph."
Mo Li's tone was calm at first, but by the end, she seemed quite annoyed. After speaking, she put her hands behind her back and walked away with a huff.
"..." Yun Che's mouth hung open in bewilderment. Mo Li had always maintained a serious, aloof, and transcendent demeanor, but in recent days... it seemed that whenever she suddenly became somewhat angry, it was always when talking about the women around him.
"Could it be... that she's actually... jealous...?" Yun Che muttered to himself, his gaze unfocused.
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A shadowy, sinister place.
"Ahh..."
"Ugh..."
"Ughhhh—Ahhhh!!"
After heavy, labored breathing came a piercing roar. The entire desolate ridge trembled with the cry, countless flying profound beasts fled in terror, and at the center of the desolate ridge, a pitch-black mass of smoke slowly rose.
Beneath the smoke was a figure holding a jet-black sword.
Fen Juechen was wreathed in black mist... and this mist was several times deeper and denser than before. Most terrifying of all was his aura—dark as if it came from the Nine Springs of the Yellow Springs of Hell.
The demon blood within him had awakened.
He felt his power surge violently, his profound energy attribute transformed into purer darkness, and his emotions nearly spiraled out of control several times during the awakening, but he suppressed them with his indomitable will.
Both hands clutched the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword—also known as the Slay Moon Demonic Sword—which was also shrouded in black mist. His heavy breathing, trembling arms, and blood dripping from them... all because his body had not yet been fully tempered by the awakened demon blood and could barely withstand the wildly surging dark profound force.
The blood dripping from his body showed a terrifying dark red, not the bright red of a normal human.
"Xuanyuan Wentian..." For Fen Juechen, even if the physical pain were ten times worse, it meant nothing compared to the ecstasy of power surging: "The first one to kill... is... you!!"
Because Xuanyuan Wentian was the chief culprit behind the destruction of the Eternal Night Royal Clan!
The awakening of the demon blood continued. The black mist rose without end, lingering above him, refusing to disperse. Gradually, it condensed into a ferocious, grinning demon face...
Fen Juechen did not notice that beneath the hilt of the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword, a pair of narrow, pitch-black eyes slowly emerged, then suddenly vanished.
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Over ten days passed. Under Yun Che's full efforts to heal, the severe injuries from his fierce battle with the Slay Moon Demon Lord had completely recovered. Even the heavily depleted profound energy had fully recovered by yesterday. The Phoenix Blood and Golden Crow Blood that had lain dormant had also awakened to nearly ninety percent.
This morning, Yun Che woke up early, ready to leave the Ice Extreme Snow Domain... because today was the engagement date between him and Feng Xue'er, shamelessly set by Feng Hengkong at the Demon Sword Assembly that day.
Yun Che did not head directly to Shenhuang City. Instead, he first arrived at Cangfeng Imperial City. He had originally thought Cang Yue would go with him, but she gently refused.
"Husband, the rulers of the other five nations will surely attend in person. But as the ruler of Cang Feng, I am also your legitimate wife. Xue'er's status in the Shenhuang Kingdom is supremely noble. If I were to appear at your engagement banquet with Xue'er, the Shenhuang imperial clan might feel somewhat uncomfortable. So, it's better that I don't attend in person."
"However, I have already prepared a gift. I sent it to the Shenhuang imperial clan a few days ago." Cang Yue said with a gentle smile, not a trace of jealousy or reluctance in her brow, only soft tenderness: "On the day of your and Xue'er's wedding, I will definitely be there. If you and Xue'er are willing to hold it in the imperial city, that would be best."
"Alright." Yun Che knew that Cang Yue wasn't unwilling to go, nor was it for the sake of the Shenhuang imperial clan, but out of consideration for Feng Xue'er's feelings. He embraced Cang Yue and said softly: "I'll be back with Xue'er in two or three days at most. Then I'll take both of you to the Huan Yao Realm. My parents will surely love you."
"Mm. I've always wanted to meet them, and also... the Little Demon Empress you often mention." Cang Yue whispered in his ear.
Yun Che left the imperial palace, rose into the air, and arrived at Mo Li's side. Mo Li didn't turn her head, saying arrogantly: "Done? Then let's go."
With that, she grabbed Yun Che's arm with her left hand and tore space apart with her right.
In an instant, Yun Che's vision spun. Before he could react, the scene before him had completely changed—from the familiar Cangfeng Imperial City to Shenhuang City. Judging by the towering Black Moon Merchant Guild visible in the distance, they were still in the central area of Shenhuang City.
The speed and precision of the location were no less impressive than the Primordial Mystic Ark.
"When will I be able to do this?" Yun Che asked enviously.
"You? Far from it." Mo Li said unkindly: "Simply tearing space requires great power. And to perform spatial teleportation, the enormous consumption of profound energy is only the secondary concern. The core requirement is a thorough understanding of the laws of space. The laws of space are incomparable to other elemental laws. To achieve mastery requires at least several thousand, even tens of thousands of years of comprehension and cultivation."
Yun Che looked at Mo Li gloomily, his expression clearly saying... Your age is obviously younger than mine!
"Go on. Judging by the atmosphere, those 'honored guests' have already filled up Shenhuang City early." Mo Li said indifferently, looking down.
"Aren't you coming with me?"
"Not interested!" Mo Li snorted, then added: "But I'll stay in Shenhuang City."
"Oh." Yun Che responded. Given Mo Li's temperament, she wouldn't even want to meet the people around him, let alone attend an engagement banquet that was sure to gather countless guests. Since it was still early, he wasn't in a hurry to go to Phoenix City. He thought for a moment and asked: "Mo Li, there's something I've always been curious about. What kind of power do you usually use? From our first meeting to the Demon Sword Assembly, every time you acted, it was... well, directly cutting the target instantly. And even though the power was so great, I never felt any profound energy aura."
"Could it be that your power isn't profound energy, but some other... higher level of power?"
From their first encounter, when she killed people of the Xiao Sect, the Flame Dragon, the Flood Dragon, Mu Tianbei... it was always an instant split of the target, and the cut was perfectly smooth. When she killed people at the Demon Sword Assembly, it was also a flash of red line, then the opponent split into pieces... the momentum was awe-inspiring, yet barely any profound energy fluctuation could be felt.
But whether Yun Che fought empty-handed, with profound flames, or with his heavy sword, every strike caused the earth to split and the heavens to collapse, the noise shaking the heavens. It made the opponent's organs burst, blood boil, or directly shattered them into powder with one sword... It was a world of difference from the momentum when Mo Li killed people, as if they were two completely different kinds of power.
"It's naturally profound energy!" Mo Li rolled her eyes at him, then her gaze turned somewhat dark: "It's just that my power is not used for fighting or injuring people. Its sole purpose is to kill. So, it's somewhat special."
"...Killing?" Yun Che was taken aback.
"The growth of profound energy is essentially the increase in the density of profound energy within the profound veins. It can also be understood as the compression of profound energy." Mo Li explained calmly: "Every minor realm breakthrough is a further compression and densification of profound energy. When it's compressed to a certain degree, a qualitative change occurs... that is a major realm breakthrough."
Yun Che nodded slightly.
Mo Li raised her own palm—delicate and small, as white and flawless as snow. Just by looking at this little hand, no one could imagine that a gentle wave could unleash devastating power: "My profound art causes my profound energy to be compressed to an extreme again at the moment of release, reducing the range of destruction, but dramatically increasing the power."
After speaking, Mo Li's small hand grabbed at the void. Two iron blocks of the same size appeared in her hand. With a change in her gesture, one block became square, the other needle-shaped. She then threw them both at the bell tower ahead.
Boom!!
Shiiing!
The square iron piece cracked the bell tower’s stone wall and fell down, while the needle-shaped piece pierced through the stone wall and embedded itself in the opposite wall.
"Both iron blocks have the same composition and weight, and I threw them with the same force. But the former only smashed the stone wall, equivalent to injuring the target, while the latter, though it caused less visible damage and even less noise, directly killed!" Mo Li put her hand down: "Do you understand now?"
"This is my Star God power. And it is destined that I will... be stained with blood."
"I see!" Yun Che was full of amazement: "By releasing the same profound energy, you can produce even greater power. And in many situations, it can greatly reduce profound energy consumption. Such a powerful and miraculous profound art! Mo Li, you once said that you would teach me your 'Star God Art'—did you mean this kind of profound art?"
Mo Li had indeed said that before. At the time, Yun Che hadn't been too moved, but now he was full of anticipation and excitement. However, Mo Li slowly shook her head: "A few years ago, I did think so. But recently, I've changed my mind."
"Why?" Yun Che raised an eyebrow: "Is it that with my current cultivation, I can't cultivate such a high-level profound art?"
"That's not it." Since Yun Che could quickly comprehend extremely high-level profound arts like the "Great Dao Pagoda Art" and the "Celestial Wolf Prison God Scripture," Mo Li certainly didn't think he couldn't understand the Star God Art. She said slowly: "My power is concentrated on 'instant annihilation.' Even my Star God Remnant Shadow is designed to complement 'instant annihilation.' But your fighting style has always been fierce and unyielding—diametrically opposed to mine, almost two completely opposite extremes. Especially since you use a heavy sword. So if I forcefully teach you to cultivate my Star God Art, not only would it not benefit you, it would likely distort your growth."
"Don't forget, your original intention in pursuing profound power was for 'protection,' not killing!" Mo Li looked into his eyes and said firmly, a hazy color in her eyes that Yun Che could not understand.
"..." The fervor in Yun Che's eyes gradually faded, and he nodded gently: "Mm, I understand."
"Go on. Don't call me unless something earth-shattering happens." Mo Li turned her back to him, then closed her eyes and said no more.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Yun Che felt that Mo Li was somewhat off today.
Normally, although Mo Li always tried to put on a cold, aloof, superior air, she never put any pressure on Yun Che, let alone intimidated him, because he knew her nature too well.
But today, Mo Li inexplicably gave him a feeling of... "heaviness." It wasn't clear or definable, and her words and actions were no different from usual... but he just had this inexplicable feeling.
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